‘I should never have let him leave,’ I cut in. ‘I was so angry. I’d told him that Wynter’s Trees was his cure all, not mine. The last words we’d had were cross ones.’

Ned leant forward and dabbed my cheek again.

‘Does my dad know about this?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I’ve never told anyone.’

‘You should have told him,’ Ned softly said. ‘There’s no way he would have kept asking you to come back if he knew what was really keeping you away.’

‘How could I have told him this?’ I whispered. ‘He would have hated me.’

‘He wouldn’t,’ said Ned, reaching for my hand. ‘He would have helped you.’

I snatched mine away.

‘I don’t deserve help,’ I bit back. ‘I deserve to feel the guilt that’s pressed down on me every hour since it happened.’

‘No,’ Ned firmly said. ‘You don’t.’

‘I let him leave,’ I reminded him. ‘I let Dad leave after an argument and now I’ll never get the chance to make my peace with him.’

‘But that still doesn’t make you responsible for what happened.’

‘Doesn’t it?’ I scowled.

‘No,’ said Ned. ‘God no. Your dad could have been on that stretch of road at that time for any number of reasons.’

‘But had I not let him leave, he wouldn’t have been.’

Ned bit his lip.

‘You see,’ I choked. ‘It is my fault.’

‘Did you ask him to go?’ Ned asked, changing tack. ‘Did you kick him out of your flat and slam the door behind him?’

‘No,’ I gasped, shocked at the suggestion. ‘Of course not. I begged him to stay.’

‘So, your dad left of his own free will and against yours? You didn’t let him go, as you put it. He left, didn’t he?’

‘Well, yes,’ I said, ‘but…’

‘Liza, look at me. You can’t keep blaming yourself for the decision your father made to leave that night. Other people’s choices are exactly that. Their choices. Not yours or mine or anyone else’s. We’re only responsible for our own actions and our own decisions.’

I thought about what he had said as he turned his attention to the cut on my knee. Dad had left of his own free will. I had begged him to stay, I had wanted to clear the air about Wynter’s Trees once and for all, but he’d refused to listen. He refused to let me explain that while the place was his sanctuary, it wasn’t mine and that I’d get through the difficult time at work and carry on.