She was so engrossed in the wonder of the night sky that she almost jumped out of her skin when Michael came around the corner of the shop and spoke to her. ‘That was a shock indeed, to see you standing there, Cat,’ he said.

She recovered and was about to reply rather tartly, along the lines of ‘I bet it was’, but she stopped herself. It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen in love with him. She’d known he was married and they’d both known what they were doing. It had been just one glorious night. And he’d been so kind when he left, giving her money to pay the rent for a year, which had changed everything for her and the kids, ensuring they had two safe Christmases when she hadn’t been totally dependent on the club money.

‘I hope you don’t mind me coming,’ she said instead. ‘It was Mrs O’Keefe’s idea. We couldn’t settle and we just wanted to see for ourselves how Mary Kate was faring. She’s been through a terrible time and we missed her when she left. It was very last-minute, but Captain Bob said he thought it was a smashing idea, and so we came.’

She flicked the ash of her cigarette onto the cinder path and took a sip from the mug. She had to keep her hands busy, and, more importantly, her eyes as well, because she was in danger of staring at him. He might have noticed that her hands were ever so slightly trembling. ‘Aren’t the stars close to the ground here?’ she said as a means of distraction. ‘I’ve never seen them look so bright or twinkle so much in the sky. Honest to God, it’s like they aren’t real.’

Michael gazed up at the sky he looked up at every night of his life. ‘The ghillie says it’s because we have no real buildings or street lights, so you see them in all their glory. I didn’t notice it meself until I came to Liverpool. It’s one of the reasons I love this place, the night sky. ’Tis like a show, it is. A performance up there, when you’re lucky and there’s no clouds, like tonight.’

He was rambling and she thought she knew what he was leading up to. He took his pipe from his top pocket, lit it and puffed hard. He was playing for time, thinking out his next lines.

From inside the house at the back of the shop the nervous chatter about the break-in had turned to laughter. There was the sound of clinking glasses and a harmonica flared into life. She smiled, and in the glow of the moonlight he thought how soft and pretty she looked. In a flash he remembered their lovemaking. The joy of the smell and the feel of her and her abandonment, which was not something that featured in his lovemaking with Rosie, less frequent as it now was. He sighed. Rosie was his wife and there was nothing to be done to change any of that. He was getting older and he felt it creeping up on him.