At the mention of her sister, Liv suddenly looked upset and broke off. Valentine wanted to say something, but before he could think of the right thing, the moment had passed.

‘I wanted to talk to you about her – about what happened – but I was too afraid. You see, my dad never wanted to talk about Mum after she died, he got too upset and I was so scared of upsetting you. And then, when you said she was in Paris, and Gisele mistook me for Helen at the beach . . .’ She shrugged. ‘I think I worked it out then.’

Liv fell silent and Valentine sat for a moment, absorbing it all.

‘When we moved here, we didn’t talk much about what had happened in the past,’ he said finally. ‘It wasn’t a secret that we’d lost our daughter, but we didn’t feel the need to publicize it, either. When you asked me if she lived locally, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth and, to be honest, I didn’t want to.’

For so long he’d kept this stuff hidden inside, but Liv was drawing it out of him.

‘That was Helen’s umbrella, you know. She said it was so bright and cheerful it always made her look forward to the rain. She was like that, always seeing the positives in everything.’

Liv smiled. ‘I’ll always be grateful to her. If I hadn’t seen it that day . . .’

She held his gaze across the table and Valentine thought how much she always made him feel seen, when for so long he’d felt invisible. ‘I was planning on going to the churchyard this afternoon—’ He broke off, unsure. He’d got so used to shouldering this alone.

‘Do you want some company? I need to stretch my legs, and Harry could do with a walk.’

The sun had really come out now and shone through the window.

‘Yes, I’d like that,’ he nodded, feeling its warmth. ‘I’d like that a lot.’

WhatsApp with Maya

Got my results! Straight As!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!

(See. I know how to text with a teenager. After six months of teaching Maya, she’s taught me a few things.)

Got my first choice of uni too –

going 2 Manchester 2 read law.

That’s amazing!

I couldn’t have done it without you!

Rubbish!

You did all the hard work

btw Liv

Yes?

I fucking love Heathcliff.

Snagging

I haven’t seen much of Ben since the building work finished at my house. He’s been busy working on the renovations at the village hall and although I’m now involved too, our paths don’t cross, as most of my work takes place at my kitchen table. The lovely old farmhouse table I spent ages hunting for, and which I’d imagined friends and family gathered around one day, is now permanently covered in paperwork. It’s less dinner party and more giant work desk.

Officially my new role started this week, and I’ve been busy doing lots of research into what the community wants and needs, from putting on plays and organizing cinema events, to after-school clubs, creative classes, local talks and Zumba. Evelyn was particularly insistent about Zumba.