‘Anyone for coffee?’ Maya asked a little too loudly to halt the conversation there. And so began the clearing away of dessert dishes and the making of coffee in the huge pot her mother took out only when they had a full house. It was a special treat – they’d bought it on a camping holiday in France years earlier – even then, it had been rustic. It was too large for one, and when it sat on the stove, brewing slowly, even Liv’s father couldn’t refuse a cup of heavy dark coffee. Liv and Maya began scraping off plates and loading them into their mother’s dishwasher while they waited for it to brew. ‘Honestly, I don’t know how you put up with that woman,’ Maya said under her breath. ‘And as for…’ She stopped. Liv already knew that Eddie would never be good enough for her in Maya’s eyes.

By five, they had exhausted all attempts at small talk. It felt as if the day never really got going, in spite of all the hard work put in, and Liv knew she wasn’t alone in breathing a sigh of relief when Barbara asked Eddie to find her coat so they could make their way home.

Eddie stumbled out of the parlour and fumbled with the coat stand. He was so drunk at this point, he could barely walk straight and hit off the walls on either side of the narrow hall. He returned to the parlour looking obscenely triumphant, his mother’s coat bundled over his arm as he narrowly avoided smashing into a standard lamp in the corner of the room.

‘Thanks for… you know…’ Eddie patted his pocket where he’d placed his gift with almost reverential care. ‘It’s great and…’ He hiccupped. ‘Sorry about…’ He looked at her with an expression that said it all.

‘Yes?’

‘Well, Mum and everything. I know she can be hard going, but really her heart is in the right place and being invited here today meant more to her than she’d ever let on.’ He smiled then and in just that moment, Liv remembered why she loved him.

‘I know; I get it. She’s her own worst enemy. It’s fine, really, Eddie. I just hope you both had a nice time.’

‘We did.’ He leant towards her so she could just about catch his familiar aftershave beneath the smell of wine and brandy. He put a hand up to her face, moving a stray strand of hair from her cheek. ‘It was just grand.’

‘Eddie,’ Barbara called from the car. ‘Are you coming? It’s freezing out here. Do you really want me to catch pneumonia on top of everything else?’

‘Yes, Mum.’ Eddie rolled his eyes and they both began to laugh, and in that moment, Liv had a feeling that the afternoon wasn’t a complete disaster.