‘It was all a bit awkward, but, basically, he said that they’d missed seeing me.’

Anna’s mother arched her eyebrows. ‘They?’

‘That’s what I said to him. I asked why, if both of them wanted to see me, why both of them weren’t standing on my doorstep.’

‘Anna! You didn’t leave him standing on the doorstep, did you?’

Anna found herself rolling her eyes like a teenager. ‘No, Mum. I asked him in, gave him a cup of tea – it’s okay, your reputation as a parent who raised me well is still intact.’

‘Good,’ she replied, and Anna’s father hid a smile.

‘He said he knew what Gayle had said to me at the party – Teresa told Scott, and Scott told his dad, I gather – and that he wanted me to know that he didn’t agree with what she said and had told her as much.’

‘Wow,’ her mother said. ‘And he’s still breathing?’

Anna chuckled. ‘Looked like it to me. He said he hoped we could – what were his words? – “put it all behind us”.’

‘And how did you react to that?’

‘I said I missed him too, that I missed being part of the Barry family – because that’s true – but I also said that I couldn’t just come back and pretend it had never happened, that I wasn’t prepared to sweep it all under the rug like I normally do and kowtow to Gayle. He didn’t look happy about that, but I think he understood.’

‘Good girl,’ her mother said. ‘You’ve been far too patient with that woman. So… what happens next?’

‘I don’t know,’ Anna said, staring out of the window to the pine trees across the road. ‘I guess I’ll work it out when I get back. And talking of work… I’ve decided to take Vijay and Rhys up on their offer to go back to BlockTime. That’s another thing I’ll have to figure out as I go along, but I’m excited about it. I never really saw myself as a creative person, not compared to Spencer, but the guys made me see that there are different ways of being creative. I’m looking forward to finding out how that applies to me.’

Her dad walked past and kissed the top of her head. ‘I think this is going to be brilliant for you, Anna.’

Her mother’s eyes sparkled. ‘I’m so pleased!’

‘Thanks for giving me a little nudge in the right direction, Mum.’

Her mother looked horrified. ‘I didn’t push, did I?’

‘No,’ Anna said, smiling. Not technically. Her father gave her another wink.

THANKFULLY, ANNA’S MOTHER had been able to schedule quite a few days off work in the lead-up to Christmas, and Anna spent some much-needed time with her parents, allowing them to share some of their favourite haunts in their new neighbourhood with her, going out for lovely lunches and long walks, reading books by the fire and eating far too much of her mother’s baking. It was just what she needed.