Merrin stood on the broad balcony that sat along the front of her fine chalet home. She ran her hand over the steel ridge of the handrail and down on to the tempered glass below, marvelling at how she was now able to sit out on this solid terrace in all weathers. Modern and open-plan on the inside, yet using local stone and weathered timbers that sat on the original footprint, the Old Boat Shed in its present form looked as if it had always been here. Standing proud and grand on the quayside, its half-timbered walls supported the wide smoked-glass gable end that made it seem as if their sitting room were floating on the sea itself. A beautiful house, sprung from the ashes of her loss.

Turns out her dad had been right when he wrote:

When you’re ready and you’ve done enough adventuring and figuring out, come home, Merrin. Come back to Port Charles, this little place where your spirit lingers even after you have driven off in Vera Wilma Brown. Walk the beach barefoot in all weathers, my little maid, and let yourself be. Be open to what is right in front of your very eyes and let yourself be happy.

It was good advice from the man who loved her and had bestowed upon her the greatest gift.

‘How I miss you, Dad.’ She let the words carry on the wind out over the sea.

Currently, she and Alex were sleeping on a mattress on the floor of the master bedroom, waiting on delivery of their brand-new bed. Heather was doing well, excited to cook for Alex, whose appetite was legendary. It gave her the incentive to start cooking again. And in the process she had regained a little of her spark.

Ruby had admired the finished place, but followed it with a barbed comment. ‘It’s nice enough, Merry, but you can’t beat an old cottage for character, can you?’

It made her chuckle now to think of it. The Kellow cottage was worth more financially, but of course, Ruby was cursed with a demeanour that believed the grass was always a little bit greener on the other side. But how they loved each other, always would. Kellow girls.

‘Silly moo,’ she whispered affectionately, with one eye on her sister’s home from this vantage point.

Luuk and Alex were standing on the slipway, chatting. Alex caught her eye and waved, before laying his hand on his mate’s broad shoulder and jogging away. It was nice for everyone that they were mates. And along with Jarvis, they had been christened the Three Amigos and were pretty much inseparable. It certainly made it easier for her, Ruby and Bella to hang out. Luuk was still proving himself in her eyes, but she had to admit, the devotion he showed to Bella and Glynn was warming – and about time too.