Katie knew that she was probably right but the thought of leaving her old life behind and no longer living in the same city as Freddy was horrible. They had been together since the beginning of university and now they were graduating together at the end.

They had both agreed to pursue their own paths. After getting his BA, Freddy had decided not to stay on for the clinical stage of his course and was returning to London to study for a master’s degree in sports science. Katie was going to South America in September to work as an intern on an archaeology project. She hadn’t wanted to apply when she had first seen the opportunity posted on the university noticeboard, but she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. She had mentioned it to Freddy, trying unsuccessfully to sound blasé, but of course he’d seen straight through her and had urged her to go for it.

‘It’s too good an opportunity to turn down, Brennan. We’ve got the rest of our lives to spend together. What’s a few months apart?’

‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll do the application. I won’t get it anyway.’

Except that she had. And now she was going to be away from Freddy for three months, perhaps longer if things went well, and she had no idea how she would cope. He had become so important to her that she now wondered how she had managed to live for so long without him. She thought back to when they were first reunited, how nervous she’d been of letting him back into her life, and was so thankful that she had taken the risk. It had been worth it and they had proven that by the fact that they were still together. And more than that, they had brought other people together too, like her mum and Angie. An unlikely friendship that had, despite all the odds, rediscovered itself again when Angie had needed it the most.

She couldn’t say the same for her dad, who still stubbornly refused to visit Pemberton Road or socialise with the Taylors. But he was always extremely welcoming to Freddy when he came to stay and he had, she suspected, become fond of him over the years. Her dad was probably as nervous as she was about today because it would be the first time he had seen Jack. When her mum had told him the plan to stay in the same hotel and go out for dinner together afterwards, he had looked horrified. But Sophie had fixed her determined glare on him, the one she reserved for rare occasions, and said, ‘This is for the children, Alan, and you’re coming. And you’re going to make an effort. And maybe even have fun, or at least pretend to.’

And he had sighed and nodded, knowing that there was no point in arguing with her. He would never really understand how his daughter had ended up falling in love with Angie’s son. And he would never get why Sophie had rekindled her friendship with Angie and supported her so loyally during her illness. But Katie saw it for what it was, and it made her love and respect her mother even more. Her compassion, her ability to empathise and to forgive, was incredible. She no longer saw her as her boring old mum, but as one of the strongest women she knew.