‘That smells delicious,’ I said, trying to smile as I placed the phone back on the bedside table.

‘You need to keep your strength up.’ She placed the tray in front of me. ‘You know, I have been independent for a long time now, Daisy, ever since… well, it has always been just me and Ben. And I’ve always done things my way. I would very much like it to stay the way I have become accustomed to. And, if you feel you wish to, until we sort this whole situation out, you are more than welcome here. But under my conditions. I don’t feel I am being unfair or unjust here, Daisy. I just like my life the way it is, without people poking their noses in. And I wish the same for my unborn grandchild. Once you involve other people in your life, it becomes their life. I don’t want that.’

I looked at my plate of toast that was moments ago a temptation. My throat now felt dry. The tone in Annie’s voice was apparent. We were going to do things her way. And once again, I was being left with little choice.

‘I appreciate what you’re saying, Annie.’

‘Good.’ She patted my arm. ‘Then we’ll get on like a house on fire.’ She pulled her mouth to one side. ‘Oops, I didn’t mean that.’

‘It’s okay,’ I said. It wasn’t. It never would be. But it didn’t bring back memories of Eve. It made me think of when Annie told me Ben had caused a fire. Then I thought about my accusations to Ben and how the two incidents now seemed so inextricably linked.

Annie plumped the cushion behind my head. I looked at her with gratitude as I couldn’t keep thanking her. She knew my parents were absent, but she hadn’t said anything else about them since our first meeting and that I was glad of. But Annie had suggested something yesterday. She talked about patient history and the fact that this baby could be taken away from me. Her words had alarmed me, but it was impossible that Annie could know anything about what happened before. It was so long ago. It was such old news you would have had to spend hours in library archives or trawling through the internet to find the stories. And I wasn’t sure Annie was capable of that. When we were here at Christmas, she could barely use her computer and Ben had to do the basics for her.

‘Right, you’re all set. I’ll bring you some fresh water up and then maybe a walk around the garden. You need to keep your blood pressure steady. None of this sitting around all day. That baby needs you healthy.’

Healthy I may be in body. But certainly not in my mind. I hadn’t been for so long. I thought when I met Ben he would heal me, but all I ended up doing was losing him as well.

She would be thirteen now. A lump formed in my throat that was painful to swallow. Even after all these years I could see her, her tiny screwed up pink face, looking at me to care for her and tend to her. But I couldn’t.