She tapped the side of her nose.

I was too grateful to insist she told me. I couldn’t believe my parents were actually standing in front of me, in Dolly’s cottage. They both looked a little different, older and greyer around the temples and I cursed the time I had wasted not talking to them, as well as why.

‘You must be Beamish,’ said Dad, holding out his hand to my other half. ‘Dolly’s told us all about you.’

Beamish stepped forward and shook it firmly.

‘Only the good I hope, sir,’ he smiled.

‘Apparently there was only good to tell,’ Mum smiled back.

The atmosphere felt completely different to when Jonathan and my parents had been in the same room.

‘Well,’ said Dolly, as she bustled to the kitchen to put the kettle on. ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re all finally together?’

‘Absolutely,’ we all happily chorused and then burst out laughing.

Later that afternoon Beamish and Dolly headed into town for the church Christingle service. I had been planning to go with them but in view of my very special visitors, I opted to stay behind and fill them in on what I was going to be doing with my life now I had eradicated Jonathan from it. I knew Mum especially would be thrilled that I was going to be working in a school.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Beamish, planting a kiss on my cheek, ‘I’ll bring you back an orange.’

Once he and Dolly had gone, I settled on the sofa between my parents. I felt loved and cherished and safe. It was a feeling I hadn’t enjoyed in their company for a very long time.

‘If it’s all right with you both,’ I began, ‘I’d rather not waste time telling you about how things finally ended with Jonathan.’

There was no way I would have been able to tell them everything. I dreaded to think how they would have reacted had they seen the bruises he had inflicted and it wasn’t necessary to burden them with all that had happened that fateful Sunday when I had first heard from Mum again.

‘Suffice to say he’s gone for good,’ I sighed, ‘and I don’t think any good would come from wasting time talking about him. We know now what sort of man he was and we’re rid of him. That’s all that matters.’

‘I just can’t believe we didn’t see through him,’ Mum sobbed. ‘We went along with everything he said because we thought it was what you wanted, Hattie. We were so worried about losing you . . .’

‘And he knew that, Mum,’ I told her. ‘He used everything I told him about David and losing the baby to manipulate my relationship with you until it broke.’