What I could say with complete certainty, however, was that it wouldn’t take me long to get used to the idea that Hope was my sister. The fact that I knew her and Sophie so well was obviously a huge help and I already loved them both dearly.

I ended my text back to Dad with words that I hoped would settle his head as well as his heart:

Coming back to Wynmouth and getting to know Hope and Sophie has made me realize the true value of female friendship and I’m looking forward to a future which includes these wonderful women in our little family.

Dad’s message also said that he would see me soon and requested that I didn’t open his letter. Thanks to our earlier exchange, I already had an idea of what the missive said and was happy to leave it. Guessing that he had headed back to work, I returned my attention to thoughts of my three friends and the fun we were going to have as a result of finally getting our relationships on the right tracks.

*

Thankfully, it was a warm, dry night and the tide had been on its way out for some time when we met down by the rockpools. Hope came carrying leftover snacks from the café, Sam had bottles of beer and Coke in an ice bag and Joe and I had blankets and candles. We lay in a row, quiet for a while, staring up at the stars and revelling in the fact that Wynmouth had almost zero per cent light pollution.

‘This is nice,’ said Hope, who was lying next to me with our respective fellas either side.

‘It is,’ I agreed, giving her hand a squeeze.

‘All finally feels right with the world,’ she sighed, turning her head to look at me, a very content smile lighting up her pretty face.

‘It certainly does,’ I smiled back, feeling amused to have earlier worked out that she had inherited Dad’s awful pen-sucking habit.

I wondered what other Tyler traits we had in common. We were in complete agreement that we wouldn’t share our news about being half-sisters for a few days at least, and only then if Sophie and Dad were happy for us to go ahead, but I knew that when the time came the boys would understand that we had needed to get used to the change in family dynamics first. That said, I was very much looking forward to seeing the expressions on their faces when they did find out.

‘Do you agree with that, Joe?’ Sam asked, pulling himself into a sitting position and unzipping the bag with the drinks in. ‘Do you feel as though everything’s right with the world?’

Joe sat up too and Hope and I then followed suit, passing on the bottles Sam handed out.

‘Of course, he does,’ said Hope. ‘Don’t you, Joe?’