With her circle decreasing, it was good to have the strength and support of new relationships. It would help steady her during the days she struggled to cope. Of course, she still had Josh, and her mum was trying to make the effort, though Hannah wasn’t sure Jane would ever fully understand the trauma she had experienced. And she still had Tash. The pair of them were in regular contact, seeking comfort from each other as they tried to come to terms with Rosie’s actions and her death.

They would never forget her, preferring to remember her as the sweet and excitable little girl she had been before Mrs W had tainted her. And as they clung on to the older happier memories, Hannah tried to visualise the six of them together, out on their bikes, building dens in the woods, playing on the train track, or wandering down country lanes. Rosie and Miles always at the back. Always lagging as they chattered away, their laughter bubbling in the air.

But now when Hannah turned to tell them to hurry up, the lane was empty.

For a commitment-phobe, it had taken almost losing Hannah twice to understand how important she had become to him. Liam knew Hannah still had her own demons to face. And Rosie’s death had only added to her anguish. Knowing that her best friend had tried to kill her and had taken her own life, feeling guilty that she hadn’t realised quite how dark a place Rosie was in, was a lot for her to deal with. He would help her come to terms with everything, but understood it wouldn’t be an easy fix, and he vowed to himself that he wouldn’t let anyone ever hurt her again. It was who he was. He protected those he cared for.

The woman he was falling in love with and the little boy he had once loved.

Miles had always been at the heart of Liam’s book. The shy but big-hearted kid with his huge glasses and impish grin. Had Liam had the chance, he would have been the best big brother to him. Eileen Wickham had stolen the chance, and he would never forgive her for that.

Before he had travelled to Norfolk, before he had met Hannah and Rosie, he had visited Eileen, knowing that she was a necessary part of the story but eager to get her interview over with. Bill had been at the house at the time and he had kicked Liam out. The Wickhams weren’t interested in listening to anything he had to say.