‘We’ll make up for it,’ Liv said, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him close before he pulled away to the sounds of his mother’s calls from outside.

‘Well then, be seeing you tomorrow, I suppose,’ Eddie mumbled as he fell into the passenger seat of his mother’s car. ‘Flannelly’s around three, if you’re up for it?’

He didn’t even kiss her goodbye. That was Eddie, she supposed, not a man of the grand gesture when there was an audience, or at least, so she’d thought until she’d spotted her gorgeous ring.

‘You’ve definitely got your gift?’ Liv checked hoping that he wouldn’t lose it on the way.

‘Yep.’ He patted the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘Thanks for that,’ he said and then she watched as he was chauffeur-driven home by his unfortunately still-sober mother.

Strangely, she realised, rather than feeling disappointed that Eddie hadn’t proposed to her on Christmas Day, in some unfathomable way, she actually felt relieved. She told herself it was just that the time hadn’t been right – it should feel more special, more intimate, more for just them. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off the house when Liv went back inside. Her mother had made a fresh pot of coffee and she was topping each of their cups up with Baileys and fresh cream. ‘Leave those for now, love,’ she said, steering Liv away from the sink. ‘You’ve done enough for one day. Let’s all dive into them later.’

‘Your mother’s right – you’ve done Trojan work since you came back down from Dublin. Time to sit for a while and enjoy the day.’ Her father looked about ten years younger now that Barbara Quirke had left.

‘Eddie certainly knows how to put away the booze, doesn’t he?’ Maya said later when they walked down to check on the lambs.

‘You know very well that was as much Mum’s fault as it was Eddie’s; every time he turned sideways she was topping up his glass.’ Liv stopped. ‘And you know he’s always a bit out of his depth when he comes here.’

‘Actually, I thought he was a bit distracted,’ Maya said softly.

‘You could be right. He’s not normally so quiet; I don’t know what was up with him today.’ The more Liv thought about it, the more she realised she’d never seen him as wrapped up in himself before. It was as if he’d tied himself up in knots over some worry too big to share; he seemed to be a million miles away even though he was just across the table from her.