She noted his use of the term ‘home’, and nodded. She had a few things to do back at Eden House, and her dinner invitation, though flippant at the time, had not been forgotten by Johnny.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll go back to mine after,’ he added, as if reading her mind.

She turned off the main road and entered the small village of Pooley Bridge. Pulling into her road, she saw it was packed with journalists.

‘Of course,’ Johnny said. ‘They’ve just heard the verdict.’

‘And we’re together,’ she said. She turned off at the next junction and swung around the back of her row of cottages, keeping their heads down. They had to climb over a fence and hold on carefully, but they managed to reach her back terrace and congratulated one another like conspirators. Lizzie screamed happily when she heard her father’s voice. He took his daughter into his arms and threw her up in the air. Kelly looked at Millie’s confused face but the girl was wise enough to mask it. She looked genuinely happy to see Johnny in the house and got on with her other chores while he rolled around on the floor with the baby.

‘Right, I’ll see you later, then,’ Kelly said.

‘Bye, Mummy!’ Johnny said, and Lizzie mimicked him in her own unique four-month-old way.

She went back out through the terrace, watching her footing as she made her way back to her car, hidden from the crowd.

She didn’t have to sleep with him, she said to herself. It’s only a meal and time with his daughter. She drove away and headed towards Penrith.

Her first stop was the hospital, where she was due to meet her father who was working on the bodies of the casualties. He’d be looking for evidence of foul play, searching for things like unusual burns, possibly indicating an explosive device, or toxicology anomalies. It was an excuse to see him and let go of some of the angst she felt over Johnny. She felt a pang of regret that she couldn’t talk to her mother. When she’d been alive, they hadn’t exactly had a close relationship, but she missed her warmth and her ability to bring reason to any tricky situation. Ted had become her anchor. He was a great listener and had a knack for making her feel better about herself when she was riddled with doubts.