‘Not much room for two on here, is there?’ he said.

Minnie looked over at Quinn who shifted his gaze to the window.

‘Quinn, hasn’t your mother got that garden looking good lately? She’s a font of knowledge, that woman. Very green fingers, you must be pleased she’s out and about again?’ Minnie’s mother said proudly.

Minnie couldn’t read Quinn’s expression; he looked distant all of a sudden. His smile a polite veneer, painted over something unreadable.

‘Yes, you’ve been a very positive influence, Connie. It’s wonderful to see her out in the garden again, it genuinely calms her,’ he said, getting up from the floor. ‘Listen, I’m afraid I have to head off. It was nice to see you both.’

‘Don’t go,’ Minnie said, turning to face him and shaking her head, ‘you haven’t had your tea?’ She tried to convey with her eyes how much she definitely did not want him to leave. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers.

‘I don’t think the tea’s worth staying for, love,’ said her dad with a grimace.

‘I’m sorry, I have to be somewhere this afternoon. I’m glad I could help with the boxes,’ Quinn said, already in the corridor.

‘But your car?’

‘I’ll get it tomorrow,’ he said, already halfway out of the door.

‘Oh, I hope we didn’t chase him away?’ said her mother, as Minnie came back through to the living room.

Minnie felt her heart sink down through her chest and into her feet. Of all the ways that kiss could have played out, this was not high on the list of optimal outcomes.

‘Minnie Moo, I brought you a moving-in present,’ said her dad, picking up a carrier bag from the floor next to him. He pulled out a square box wrapped in bubble wrap and presented it to Minnie. She peeled back the plastic; it was one of his clocks, the one with the silver hands and the most annoying tock of all.

‘On loan, just so you feel at home,’ said her dad with a wink.

New Year’s Eve 2003

The bath water was getting cold. Her skin above water level had sprouted goosebumps and the tips of her fingers had wrinkled into white, alien-like pads. She put her hands over her chest – still practically flat as a pancake. She was going to be fourteen tomorrow, surely they’d have to grow soon. She wanted to run the hot tap and stay in longer but her mum was in the bedroom – if she heard the tap she’d shout at Minnie to get out.