All her life she’d secretly hoped that somewhere, somehow, there might be a family waiting for her. She was wrong. There was nothing. Her mother was dead. Her father was dead. She was on her own.

‘Eliza?’

He had got out of the car too. He was standing beside her. There was a moment, a long, still moment, and then she turned into him. He was broad, warm, solid. His arms came around her, gently holding her. She pressed her face against his shoulder. The tears were unstoppable. She lifted her head to try to speak but couldn’t.

He said her name again. He told her not to worry, not to speak. He kept holding her, solid, gentle.

Finally, she felt able to lift her head, wipe her eyes. ‘I’m so sorry —’

‘You don’t have to be.’

‘I need to explain.’

‘No, you don’t need to. Only if you want to.’

She was shivering. He noticed. He opened the car door for her. Helped her in. He took his seat again too. He turned on the heater. The car slowly warmed. As her shivering stilled, as her tears finally stopped, she started to tell him. She kept her voice low. She told him what had happened with Sheila. He let her talk, as he had let her cry outside.

When she had finished, Lawrence quietly asked her if she’d told Olivia yet. Did she want him to ring her? No, she said. She needed to know more before she could tell her and Maxie. She needed to talk to Emmet again. With or without Sheila’s approval. She was waiting to hear from Sheila, she said. She’d been checking her phone throughout the journey. There’d been no word.

‘We can drive back there now,’ he said. ‘You can go to her house. Or we can go to Emmet’s pub.’

She thought about going back to Trim now. Walking the streets of the town. Feeling like – what? A pariah? Waiting for someone to look at her, see her father in her? She couldn’t do that. Not yet.

‘What were you going to do up here?’ she asked.

‘Walk. Take photos.’

She asked him the question she’d asked him back at the hotel. Could she please come?

He drove on for another few minutes. In the distance, he’d seen a path leading across the boglands. He parked to the side of the mountain road. It was still so quiet. Only an occasional car had passed by. She felt safe. There was something decent about Lawrence. She knew Olivia wouldn’t have asked him to make this journey with her if she didn’t feel the same way.