‘They’re our friends, not yours. And they’re going to have a houseful anyway. You’ll get another chance to meet them before you go home. Besides, I have a feeling you could do with this.’

Her mother gave her the firm look she remembered from her teenage years, then exited with the tray before she could argue. Anna dithered for a second, but then caught a glance of the snowy garden and decided that maybe doing what she was told today wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

When her parents left the house for lunch with their friends, Anna snuggled down in the duvet and stared out the window, just letting her thoughts wander where they wanted to, until she needed to change position and turned to lie on her back, and then she pulled the duvet up over her head.

It was just as white and calm there as the snowy world outside, but it wasn’t like her duvet cocoon at home, she realized. Back there, she’d climbed into bed hoping she would cease to exist, but as she lay there – breathing, relaxing, simply being – she didn’t feel dead and numb. She felt alive.

She felt like Anna.

When she finally had to leave the bed to head to the bathroom and grab a plate of leftovers for lunch, she decided that being alone and chilled out was good but having some company would be even better.

After checking the time, she worked out that it would be mid-afternoon back home. Her thoughts wandered to Brody. She picked up her phone and dialled his number, hoping fervently that he hadn’t been carted off to a buffet lunch with his parents’ friends as she almost had been, but, thankfully, he picked up.

‘Merry Christmas!’ Anna said brightly, not so much because she was overexcited about the festive season but because she was really pleased to hear his voice. Brody just grunted, which made Anna laugh.

‘How’s it going?’ she asked him. ‘Are you wearing the socks?’

That earned her another grunt. ‘I kind of had to put them on this morning…’ He paused and she stifled a laugh as she imagined him shaking his head in disgruntled disbelief. ‘This visit is about building bridges, after all, and it’s going okay, I suppose. A bit awkward, obviously, because I’ve kept them at arm’s length for so long. I can see they’re desperate to rush in, fill in the gap that’s been there all these years, but at the same time they’re wary, not wanting to push things.’

‘I’m sure you’ll find your way with each other.’

‘Yes. Yes, I think we will. Eventually…’

Anna smiled. ‘Even though I’m in a different house from the one that I grew up in – in a different country! – I still feel a bit like I’m regressing to my teenage self when I come to stay with my parents. Do you feel that way too?’

Brody laughed drily. ‘A little. I made the mistake of trying to start a conversation in the middle of the Queen’s speech and got a withering look from my father. I kind of liked it, because it was the one moment all day when I felt the years had melted away and we were just ourselves again.’