‘I think you’re the best brother in the whole wide world.’ She meant it, instantly and hugely relieved to hear his words of support, unsure she could get through it without him. Her vision was once again clouded by tears as her head hit the pillow. Her heart and eyelids were heavy.

‘Today is a brand-new day,’ her brother said, stroking her hair as exhaustion claimed her. His whispers were kind and reassuring. ‘Today is a brand-new day . . .’

Bessie closed her eyes. Her last thought before floating off to sleep was that she wasn’t sure her dad was right – maybe she was a falling-down kind of girl after all . . .

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

August 20th 2021

Bess felt a bubble of joy in her stomach, the kind she got when something exciting and wonderful lurked on the horizon. This was the start of a brand-new chapter. She scraped the leftover chips, of which there were plenty, into the little plastic food recycling bin and folded the greasy vinegar-stained wrappings, crunchy with salt, into a soggy bundle. Grabbing the red pen from the pot on the windowsill, she flipped the pages of the calendar and chose a love heart instead of a red ring with which to encircle the twenty-ninth of January the following year.

‘I’ll pop these in the wheelie bin.’ Mario grabbed the waste and went out of the back door.

Bess was pleased the visitors had left, enjoying the peace after the hubbub but still buoyed up by Jake and Dan’s news. All she wanted to do now was make things right with Mario and tell him everything. The celebrations had been loud, tearful and memorable in their beloved family home. It might not have fancy balconies or a view of the sea, but it was jam-packed with love and there was nowhere else she wanted to be. As the clock nudged ten o’clock, Jake, Dan and Natalie had, like her, been keen to get to their beds in preparation for work tomorrow. Her parents, however, without any sign of tiredness, had congaed down the drive and were apparently planning on hitting the cooking sherry when they got home.

‘A great-grandad!’ her dad had beamed with tears in his eyes. ‘Can you believe it?’