Under different circumstances, she would have welcomed the support, but Liam Quinn wasn’t her friend. She had to keep reminding herself of that. It was difficult when he kept showing up, leaving her no choice but to get to know him a little better. It was easier to dislike him when she knew nothing about him.

In fact, she knew he was an author, but that was pretty much it. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so willing to get in a car with him and let him drive her out of the county. Truth was, they may not be friends, but she did trust him that he wouldn’t hurt her. She wasn’t completely stupid though, and as a precaution, she had messaged Josh and told him where she was going and who she was with.

Besides, it had been her own stupid fault that Liam had shown up this morning and she was kicking herself for opening the brandy last night. If she hadn’t been drunk, she wouldn’t have called him, and if she hadn’t have called him, he wouldn’t have rocked up at her flat.

But then she also wouldn’t now be here outside Mrs W’s house, ready to confront the woman.

Was she ready?

That was a loaded question; Hannah wasn’t sure she would ever be ready for this meeting.

She had to go through with this though.

As she got out of the car, crossing the road to the terrace house, she wondered how the woman would react. Would she even recognise Hannah? It had been twenty years and Hannah had only been thirteen at the time. Her hair was still blonde, but her face had matured and she had grown several inches.

If Mrs W didn’t recognise her, would Hannah need to have an awkward conversation to remind her? And if she did, would Mrs W scream and shout at her or try to slam the door in her face?

Liam would be watching her, of that she was sure, and the temptation to go back to the car and ask him to come with her was overwhelming. Instead, Hannah put one foot in front of the other. She had already let her guard down around him more than she was comfortable with and she refused to start leaning on him for support or allowing him to see how vulnerable she really was.

You are stronger than you think, Hannah. You can do this.

Despite repeating the mantra, it took all of her courage to knock on the front door.

This close, she could see the remnants of red paint, possibly graffiti. She could only imagine the words that might have been written there.

Liam had been able to track Mrs W down, so how many others knew she lived here?

Was it just graffiti or had she endured worse?