I was already nodding. ‘I…’ I nearly said, “I liked that one too.” Shit. That was close. I was in dangerous territory and I was afraid of dropping myself into more trouble. ‘I think my mum liked that one too.’

‘Has she read Me Before You?’ asked Maggie. It was likely the fear was now clearly visible in my eyes. ‘It’s okay. I’ll dig it out and you can take it home and ask her.’

‘If she’s not read it I’m sure she’ll love that one,’ said a tiny lady from the table. I nodded and tried to swallow. It was quite difficult because I appeared to have stopped producing saliva.

‘She’s probably read it,’ said a gruff woman.

‘Or most likely she’s seen the film,’ added another.

‘The film wasn’t as good as the book,’ said the tiny lady, half to me and half to the group.

‘They never are,’ said Christine, adding books to a very tall pile that teetered in her arms.

‘I liked the film better,’ said one of them and a heated discussion ensued. I envied the humble hedgehog its ability to hide within itself. My invisibility cloak didn’t seem to work at the library.

‘Here,’ said Maggie, handing me the book they were discussing. ‘It’s one of my favourites. Funny and poignant is tricky to pull off.’

Its cover didn’t give much away but I was intrigued by the thirteen million copies sold sticker – that’s a lot of romance books. ‘Thanks.’ It was an automatic response.

‘I hope she enjoys it.’ Maggie returned to the table.

‘Right,’ said Christine, puffing out a breath. ‘I feel like Amazon.’ She snorted a laugh. ‘If you liked that, you may also like this.’ She held up the books in turn and grinned wildly. She checked them all out for me, including the one Maggie had recommended. Christine patted the books into a neat pile and slid them towards me. I took a hasty glance at the door. Thankfully there was no sign of anyone I knew. I plunged the books into my rucksack and pulled the drawstring tight shut.

This wasn’t how this was meant to go. I was meant to return the romance novels and that would be the end of it. I’d brought some homework to do because I was still avoiding Dad and thought the library might help me keep focused and for some reason I’d quite liked being there. Also I didn’t have anywhere to work at home. The kitchen and living room were a mess and it just didn’t work lying on my bed. ‘Do you have any books on the history of medicine?’ I asked. Christine froze like someone had hit a pause button.

‘But you wanted romance books?’

‘No. Not me. My mum wants those. I’ve got homework and I thought I’d work on it here.’