‘She’s the talk of the town, all right!’

His words were like daggers, sharp and wounding. Merrin felt a quake in her stomach.

‘What is it you want exactly, Mac?’ Her dad was now short with the pub landlord and she knew this was for her benefit.

‘You left your wallet on the bar last night. I said to Robin and Jarv, not like he can afford to be throwing money away. I bet it cost you a pretty packet for the wedding and all – I saw your fancy suit and Merrin’s dress! Thought I’d better bring this back to you, can’t have you any more out of pocket!’

Merrin heard the door slam and saw Mac slope off across the cobbles.

‘What the bloody hell is going on? I’m still waiting on a cup of tea!’ Ruby shouted as she hurtled down the stairs.

Merrin collapsed on to the rug in front of the sofa.

‘All I did was fall in love and all I wanted was to take care of a family, be a mum and make a home, and now this; my whole life has fallen apart! I’m a bloody laughing stock!’

‘Ignore them.’ Her mum sank down to the floor with her and held her tight. ‘Ignore them all.’

‘How can I? I wanted to live quietly.’ She looked up towards Reunion Point and wondered how long Digby had sat there, wallowing in self-pity. ‘And now I’m something different. Someone different. How can I live a quiet life in the place I love when I am marked as that girl?’

‘It’ll pass, Merry. It will.’ Her sister looked anguished.

She shook her head. ‘I can’t, I can’t stay here, not with everyone talking about me and about yesterday; I can’t stand the thought of it. I don’t want to see anyone, don’t want to go outside. Staying here with reminders on every corner and people wanting to bring it up would make it hard for me to get over it, hard for me to rebuild myself.’

‘Don’t be daft, my love.’ Her dad’s expression was fearful. ‘You are just very tired and things will seem different in a day or two. You need to be right here among the people who love you. We’ll have no more talk of not staying here. Port Charles is where you belong. It’s where we all belong!’