His thanks were all it took for her tears to break their banks.

‘Jesus, you’re going to set me off!’ He stood. ‘And that would never do – might smudge my eyeliner!’

Bess laughed.

‘Forget tea, I think we need a drink drink. What’ll you have?’

‘I don’t mind,’ she shrugged. ‘Anything but Cinzano.’

‘Good idea. If you were sick on the front of this house, Nanette would literally kill me.’ He pulled a face.

‘Literally?’

‘Literally,’ he asserted.

She jumped up and dusted the seat of her jeans, before following her big brother into his big, big kitchen.

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

Six Months Later

‘They’re taking their time,’ her mother sighed, tapping her fingertips on the wooden arm of the less than comfortable chair. Her dad looked close to nodding off. Natalie, meanwhile, was tip-tapping away on her phone, working, always working, no matter that she was out of the office. Philip re-read his broadsheet, shaking it from time to time to remove invisible creases.

Bess nodded. Yes, they were taking their time. The general hubbub of conversation had dried up an hour or so ago, along with any initial excitement. The five of them had played several rounds of ‘I Spy’, which had ended in bickering, and now the atmosphere was a little strained. The family was getting edgy and uncomfortable. The air was a little thick and the temperature too warm. Bess felt the beginnings of a headache.

‘I mean, we’ve been here since eleven o’clock this morning. Your dad’s missed the lunchtime news!’ Jeannie nudged him and he rallied, snorting a little and looking in that second as if he had no idea where he was. ‘And his afternoon programmes – I’ve missed Pointless, and we’re still no closer!’

‘I guess that’s the thing with having a baby, Mum. No matter how keen you are for them to arrive or what you might be missing on the telly, you can’t really hurry them. He’ll be here when he’s good and ready.’ Bess grinned at the prospect.

‘I wish I’d brought some sandwiches,’ her mum huffed.

‘Did you bring sandwiches – is that what you said?’ her dad chirped. ‘Cos I’m proper famished. I could just go for a corned beef and pickle on white!’

‘No, Eddie! No sandwiches, and it’s not five minutes since you polished off your fruitcake, but I might have a Fox’s Glacier in the bottom of my bag – hang on a mo.’ Her mum opened her handbag and began to rummage inside.

Natalie caught Bess’s eye across the small waiting room and smiled. ‘Would you like me to go and get you a sandwich, Grandad – there’s a Costa down the road? I’m happy to go,’ she said, jumping up from her chair.

Bess was, as ever, touched by the way she treated her grandad.