‘Do you want me to come and stay with you for a few days? I’m pretty handy at changing a door lock, among other things,’ Maya said.

‘No. Not yet, Eddie isn’t going to turn up here for at least another week. By then, I’ll have straightened myself out and given him the news that I’ve moved him out of the flat,’ she said. At least knowing that, probably, Eddie would be more bothered about not having anywhere to live than the idea that things had finished between them made throwing him out a lot easier.

That evening, when Liv’s shift had finished, she walked towards the stairs. She should look in on Finn O’Connell, really, just to make sure he was doing okay, but she couldn’t face it. Probably, he wouldn’t expect her to show up every evening. If there had been any change for the worse, Morgan would have let her know.

She turned away from the stairs and headed towards the front door instead and out into the driving snow. They’d been lucky with the weather so far. It was soft underfoot and although there were occasional icy patches, for the most part it was easy enough to walk on. Outside the hospital, as she waited for her bus in the cold, she thought about that evening of the accident and it felt as if it had been almost the starting point to what was coming next, even though she hadn’t realised it at the time.

She’d made a snap decision. The right decision, she was certain of that much, but it was bringing her down a road she didn’t want to travel, even if she knew it was exactly where she’d always needed to go. With that, she looked up towards the sky. The clouds had been driven back for a short reprieve and the moon, silver and full, was suspended low in the sky. She counted seven stars. Just seven and she wondered what that might mean, if they were a message from Rachel. As the bus pulled in to the stop, she realised that perhaps they meant nothing at all; they were just stars in the sky and if Rachel was really looking out for her, all she had to do was trust that everything was working out for the best.

Just as the bus was pulling away, she thought she saw Estelle walking up the avenue towards the hospital and a little part of her was glad she hadn’t gone to visit Finn. She wasn’t sure she could cope with seeing him and Estelle together now. Not when she felt so thoroughly on her own.

9