Beth stamped her foot on the ground. ‘Oh, damn and blast, I wish I’d known! I’d have liked to have seen that with my own eyes.’

‘Well, I’ve had quite enough excitement for one day,’ said Olivia with verve, ‘and I’ve got a lot more to come, because Ted and I are going to go to Glasgow to visit the crematorium so that we might pay our respects, and after today I’ve decided I want us to visit my father first.’

Maude’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. ‘Why on earth would you want to do that? I thought you liked Ted?’

Olivia giggled. ‘I do, but I want to show my father that he didn’t win, and how, despite his best efforts, me and Ted still got together.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘True love always finds a way.’

‘How romantic!’ sighed Maude.

‘Wouldn’t I love to be a fly on the wall when you walk in with Ted.’ Beth chuckled. ‘Does he know what you’ve got planned?’

Olivia nibbled her bottom lip. ‘No, but I’m hoping he’ll agree.’

Maude rolled her eyes. ‘That man would jump through hoops of fire for you. Besides, I should imagine he’ll quite relish the opportunity to show your father that he finally got his girl.’

Olivia beamed. ‘He did, didn’t he?’

It was much later on that same evening when Ted rang to say he was safely back at RAF Speke.

‘It’s going to be a while until I can arrange any more leave,’ he told Olivia, ‘so I’ve no idea when we might get to Glasgow.’

‘I’ve been thinking about it,’ she said, ‘and I’d like us to go and visit my father before we go to the crematorium.’

‘O-kay,’ said Ted with a hint of hesitation. ‘Can I ask why?’

‘So that we can show him we’re together and he can’t split us up, not this time.’

She could hear Ted grinning as he spoke. ‘What’re you trying to do, kill him?’

‘Oh, ha ha,’ said Olivia, although Ted could tell by the tone of her voice that she was smiling. ‘I just think it will do him good to learn that he can’t control everything. He may be a bit long in the tooth, but nothing’s going to change the fact that he’s my father, and who knows what the future may bring.’

‘Are you not worried about his response?’

‘Nope, I’ve not been frightened of my father for some time now. I think that’s partly why I want to face him, so that I can show myself as well as him that I’m in control of my own life. Good or bad, I make my own decisions.’