L‌iv woke the following day and tried ringing Pete first thing, but there was no answer, which was a pity, because Pete always pulled her out of the doldrums. Still, she was determined not to wallow. So, last night had not been the night, but she knew that there had never been any guarantees that it would be. The main thing she had to keep reminding herself of was that Eddie had made that ring for her, whatever that meant – whether he was planning on a Christmas engagement or not, it meant that he loved her.

It was mad, really, but as she tramped out across the farm with the dogs in the cold morning air, it niggled her again, the fact that Eddie had never actually told her that he loved her. She’d told Maya once, who’d laughed. And then of course it all made complete sense. How could Eddie be anywhere near halfway normal about his emotions with a mother like Barbara Quirke?

But it mattered to Liv some days more than others and it mattered today. She wouldn’t mope, because it would only worry her parents, but there was no harm getting it out of her system with a long walk and a little cry along the way if she felt like it.

Of course, she realised that she would have to make peace with Eddie. Not that she’d fallen out with him exactly the previous night, but she’d hardly even said thank you for the book. Instead, she’d tried to swallow her disappointment and made her escape as bluntly as possible. She pulled her phone from her pocket.

‘Hey,’ she said and she knew she sounded too bright.

‘Huh?’ Eddie sounded as if he was still half asleep.

‘Sleepyhead, late night?’ He’d have gone back to Flannelly’s, probably hadn’t even eaten dinner. Honestly, Liv thought, if it wasn’t for her making sure he ate three meals a day, she wondered if he’d survive at all.

‘Yeah. Too late probably.’ She heard him scrabbling. ‘What time is it?’

‘It’s after nine.’ She smiled.

‘Flipping hell, Liv, don’t you know it’s the holidays? What on earth has you up and ringing me at this hour?’ he groaned.

‘I just wanted to say thanks for the gift.’

‘The gift?’ He hadn’t the foggiest idea what she was on about. She imagined him, bleary-eyed; probably wearing the T-shirt and boxers he’d worn the previous day, his hair messed up and sleep still in his eyes. She knew him well enough now to know he wouldn’t actually be fully awake until he’d had a shower and a strong cup of black coffee.

‘My book, it’s lovely, thank you.’

‘Oh, that, right…’ He was obviously waiting for her to hang up.

‘Anyway, I thought maybe we could do something today. A walk on the beach?’