Maxie attempted a smile as they came in. ‘Nothing like a memorable honeymoon to kickstart a marriage,’ she said. There was a bandage on her forehead, bruising visible too.

They both leaned in and hugged her, careful to avoid the protective frame over her right leg.

‘You look terrible,’ Olivia said.

‘I know,’ Maxie said. ‘Married life suits me.’

She and Hazel described the fall, Maxie’s foot wedged between two rocks, the bad cut to her head. There had been a lot of blood.

‘We were so lucky, though,’ Hazel said. ‘The hill rescue team was on a training run nearby. They were packing up when they got the call. Got to us within half an hour.’

‘Another fifty metres up and we mightn’t have had phone reception,’ Maxie said. ‘It was my own stupid fault. I’m too old to be leaping from rock to rock. Without proper walking boots too.’

‘On the bright side, not every honeymooning couple gets a trip in a rescue helicopter,’ Hazel said.

Maxie squeezed her hand. ‘We’d had other bad news too. Hazel’s been called to New York early. She has to leave tomorrow. But what do I do now?’

‘You come to me, of course,’ Olivia said. ‘The Montgomery convalescent home. For as long as you need, until you’re fit enough to fly to New York.’

‘Oh, Liv, I was going to ask if —’

‘You don’t have to ask. Of course you can.’

Hazel spoke then. ‘And I keep telling her she has to stop worrying about packing up the flat. I’m going to call New York today to delay my trip. Go down and start packing tomorrow.’

‘You can’t, Hazel,’ Maxie said. ‘You have to be in New York tomorrow.’

‘I’ll have to tell them I can’t. Our only other option is a moving firm and I know you hate that idea —’

‘I really hate that idea. The flat’s not even half-organised. I can’t let complete strangers do it, going through our photos, our clothes —’

‘I can do it,’ Eliza said.

Maxie turned. ‘Sorry?’

‘I’ll go to London and pack it up for you. I can arrange the shipping too.’

‘Eliza, you can’t,’ Maxie said. ‘It’s in such a mess.’

‘I love messes. Cleaning them up, at least. I could send you photos of everything and you could tell me what stays in the flat and what belongs to you both. I’d bring back anything you need now, and ship the rest to New York.’

‘Eliza, that’s a brainwave!’ Olivia said. ‘Hazel, Maxie, what do you think?’

Hazel agreed instantly and gratefully. Maxie burst into tears. For real, again.

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY