‘You know why, sweetheart. I told you, and I told the coroner too. To say how excited she was that you were coming home. To laugh at how much cleaning she was about to do. She said that you were like the Queen, thinking the world smells like fresh paint. Because whenever you arrived home after one of your holidays with us, your house always smelt like cleaning products. She told me she would always associate you with the smell of lemon bleach, that she loved the smell too, because it meant you weren’t far away. She’d been counting down the hours till you came home. She was so excited about you going to uni, too. She was already planning her first visit to you there.’

‘And she wouldn’t have said any of that if she was —’ She stopped there.

‘No, Eliza, she wouldn’t have.’

‘I’ve read the coroner’s report so many times, Olivia. I know it off by heart. He must have seen so many situations like that. All those different factors. The alcohol. The bath. The sleeping pill. Sometimes it would have been suicide, wouldn’t it? But not with Mum. I knew she couldn’t wait to see me again. She’d said it in that email. And she’d only taken one pill, the coroner said. Two at the most. She’d told me she got them from a friend at work. I know that was a mistake – they weren’t prescribed for her – but it wasn’t an overdose. She just had too much wine. Got in the bath. Fell asleep. It was an accident. A terrible accident.’

‘I know, darling. I know it was,’ Olivia said. ‘Maxie knows that too.’

Eliza turned to her. This time she didn’t fight the tears. Olivia held her close.

‘What would I have done without you both?’ Eliza said, her voice muffled. ‘Not just then. Ever since.’

‘You don’t have to ask. Because we’re not going anywhere. You’re stuck with us.’

Minutes passed, Olivia holding Eliza tight, gently stroking her dark cap of hair, soothing her.

It was Eliza who eventually suggested a cup of tea. They walked, arms linked, to the café. Eliza offered to fetch their drinks.

While she was at the counter, Olivia rang Maxie.

‘Any luck with Emmet?’

‘Nothing. All I’ve managed to do so far is rack up a big phone bill. Is she okay?’

Olivia told her about their conversation, keeping an eye on Eliza across the café. Maxie made her repeat the last exchange with Eliza. About Jeannie’s final moments.

‘You didn’t say anything else, did you?’

‘I told you I wouldn’t.’

‘She can’t ever know, Olivia.’

‘She never will, Maxie. I won’t ever tell her.’

As Eliza approached with their tea, Olivia abruptly hung up.