At first Chloe had thought it was best to hang back, but it was Maureen and Patrick themselves who had picked her out of the crowd as they filed into St Gregory’s. Maureen’s hand had found Chloe’s and it has not left hers since. Nobody asked who Chloe was as they filed out of the church to make their way to the cemetery, but Chloe had overheard Patrick telling one group of friends that she was their lodger, and then Maureen had interrupted – her hand still wrapped firmly around Chloe’s – to tell them that she was ‘practically family now’. This had made Chloe glow inside, even on such a sorrowful day. She understands now that Patrick wants only what will make the pain easier to bear for Maureen, and for now, that is Chloe.

As they’d waited for the priest to arrive to commence the committal Maureen had made sure to introduce Chloe to even the most distant of relatives, and if they noticed – by coincidence – the resemblance between Chloe and Angie, nobody commented. Perhaps it wouldn’t have felt right on this particular day.

Chloe stands at the front now, right beside the grave as the tiny coffin hovers over it. On her right, Hollie’s hand fits neatly into hers and she feels her best friend – her only friend – squeeze it every now and then as if to remind her that she is here, that she is always here for her. As they recite the Lord’s Prayer, Chloe looks behind her, and Phil gives her a tight, embarrassed smile.

On Chloe’s left is Maureen, and beside her, Patrick. Maureen’s fingers are wrapped so tightly around Chloe’s that her bones ache, but she doesn’t let go of this mother’s grasp, not for one second. She can see now why Patrick didn’t. And behind Maureen, a hand on her left shoulder, stands Josie. Perhaps she had proved her friendship a hundred times over in all the years that followed. Who knows how much she has also suffered for her own deceit? We rarely have a way of telling.

The priest concludes his prayers:

‘Loving God, from whom all life proceeds

And by whose hand the dead are raised again,

Though we are sinners, you wish always to hear us.

Accept the prayers we offer in sadness for your servant, Angela Rose Kyle:

Deliver her soul from death,

Number her among your saints

And clothe her with the robe of salvation

To enjoy forever the delights of your kingdom.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.’

The congregation, Maureen, Patrick and Chloe, all whisper, ‘Amen.’