“Are you raising a glass to her, darling?” Meg said.

Liv glanced at her watch. Anthony still hadn’t arrived, and she didn’t know if he was coming or not. When the door opened a little, she raised her chin expectantly. One of the bookstore staff entered with a jug of water.

Liv sighed and turned away. She straightened a tablecloth and poured more tea for Ted.

Sometime later, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Anthony wearing his cobalt suit. His neck muscles were taut and his arms hung stiffly by his side. The white patch in his hair appeared to shine.

Her eyes met with his and she felt an unexpected gush of understanding toward him. Essie’s strange last wish had thrust two people together, her ex-lover and the daughter of the man she loved. She and Anthony had both struggled, and searched, and learned the truth. They had survived all the craziness and carried out Essie’s request. Liv felt much stronger for it, but she wasn’t sure about how he felt.

His eyes were downcast. “Apologies for being late, and for keeping things from you,” he said. “Finding out you were Grant’s daughter brought back a lot of old emotions I thought I’d buried.”

“You were right to be suspicious. I hope I proved myself to you.”

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “You didn’t need to,” he said. “Essie saw you as her worthy successor and that’s good enough for me.” He paused before holding out his hand for a shake.

Liv hugged him instead.

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Me, too.”

Pulling away, he looked around him. “You’ve done Essie proud. Have I missed your speech?”

“I hadn’t planned one,” Liv said, then realized the room had fallen quiet. “Essie would hate that.”

“You seem to have everyone’s attention,” Anthony said. “It looks like they’re all waiting for you.”

Liv thought about all her feelings for Essie, from being a timid twelve-year-old schoolgirl, to becoming her cleaner, and evolving into her trusted coauthor. How could she ever explain her myriad emotions to anyone? “What should I say?” she said.

“Just say what she meant to you, what she meant to us all.” He rubbed her arm and started to pour champagne into everyone’s glasses.

As Liv stood at the head of the table, palpitations pattered in her rib cage. She sipped water to wet her throat before she spoke. “Thanks, everyone, for coming today. And for keeping everything under wraps,” she said. “I’m sure if Essie was with us today, she’d insist I keep things short and definitely not sweet.”

A ripple of laughter sounded around the table.