She cast her mind back to the day she had left her mother behind in Aigburth Drive. Catherine had tried to smile encouragingly at her daughter, but her bottom lip trembled as she fought to control her emotions. ‘I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this, Liv. If there was any other way …’

Determined that her mother should not see how upset she was, Olivia had put on a brave face. ‘Don’t worry about me, Mum, I’ll be fine.’ She gave a sombre chuckle. ‘I never thought I’d say this, but Dad’ll look after me.’

‘I told you he had a heart, he just keeps it well hidden. In fact, I don’t know where you’d be without him.’ Catherine tutted beneath her breath. ‘If I could get my hands on that Edward …’ she took a deep breath, ‘… still, there’s no point in dwelling on the past.’

‘All the things he used to say about Dad, and he’s just as bad, if not worse,’ Olivia said flatly. ‘Dad might be a miserable old so-and-so, but he’d never turn his back on his family.’

Now, as the clouds began to gather, blotting out the brilliance of the sun, she mulled over the things her father had done for her of late, but this time she saw things as they truly were and not through the eyes of a young girl, giddy and naive from the attentions of a handsome boy who had fled the city as soon as the rumours had begun to circulate. It was her father who had tried to put an end to her relationship with Ted, and even though she had thought it unfair at the time, with the benefit of hindsight, she could see now why he had been so overbearing. He had seen Ted for what he was and tried to protect Olivia from him; he had said as much on their drive from the hospital to the cottage. ‘I know you believed my intentions were to get rid of Edward, but nothing could be further from the truth. I went round to see him so that I could make sure he took care of his responsibilities. I may not know him personally, but I know what boys are like – they take advantage of girls, then when disaster strikes they deny any involvement, say the baby isn’t theirs, accuse the girls of being promiscuous and pinning the blame on them. I just wanted what was best for you, but if you want my opinion it’s that boy’s fault the baby was stillborn – it’s all the stress he put you under by running off the way he did,’ he had finished bitterly.