It was evening, and the day’s light had been swallowed by the cliff. They were all sitting at the kitchen table in the Weaver’s Nook – it had been a while since they’d had time to do that, and Anna missed it. Pat had insisted that Frank go for his own check-up after his escapade on the cliff, and as a result declared that he was now under official orders to take it easy.

‘How are you two doing?’ Anna asked.

‘Well, we could do with these storms taking a hike. We’ve never known a season like this, have we, Frank?’

Frank shook his head.

‘Are your bookings down because of it?’

They both laughed. ‘You must be joking!’ Pat said. ‘We could have filled this place three times over this week! Anna, you could open the Inn tomorrow and book the restaurant out for the next six months before you’d even tried.’

‘Then I’m sorry I’m giving you so much extra work.’

‘Don’t be daft, love,’ Frank said. ‘It’s the best summer we’ve had in years, workwise. Not your fault we’re getting on. Can’t fix that as easily as you have our business worries.’

‘To tell you the truth,’ Anna confessed, ‘I’m not sure what to do. I’m operating over capacity as it is, and people are becoming irate that there’s only six seats, but I can’t see how I can expand. The Inn is the only place in Crovie that would make that a possibility and unless I win the lottery, that’s not going to happen. And…’ She took a breath. ‘There’s another, bigger reason to be considering the future of the lunch club.’

Pat eyed her. ‘Oh? This doesn’t have anything to do with Liam Harper, does it?’

‘What? How do you know that?’

‘Susan said she saw you having lunch with the lad in Fraserburgh earlier and figured you’d called him to pick you up from the hospital. We thought maybe that meant you two were back together again, and what with him about to head back home… Well.’ Pat sighed, unhappily. ‘You do keep saying you’re going to move on.’

Anna bit her lip. Now that the moment had come, her stomach lurched with nerves.

‘That’s not why he came to get me from the hospital.’ She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the envelope that contained the scan, pushing it across the table towards her friends. ‘This is why.’

Pat gave her a quizzical look before picking up the envelope. When she saw what was inside, her eyes widened. She and Frank both stared at Anna in astonishment.

‘It was an accident,’ Anna told them. ‘But I’ve decided it’s a happy one. The baby’s due in January. And before you ask, everything’s fine. We’re fine.’