With her heart in her mouth, Grace stopped walking when she reached the row where Leah was sitting. She took a deep breath.

‘Hello,’ she said as gently as she could.

Leah looked up. Her face was pale and her eyes dark and ringed with plum-coloured shadows. She wore no make-up and her hair hung heavy and unwashed.

‘I’m sorry,’ Leah replied, her eyes wide. ‘Am I in the wrong place? Should I go?’

She made to stand up, but Grace put out a reassuring hand.

‘No. Of course not. You’re absolutely fine. You can sit here as long as you need to. That’s what the church is here for. I just wanted to let you know that you weren’t on your own.’

Leah gave a single nod of her head, as if to be more animated was more than she could achieve. ‘I’ve never been in here before,’ she said. ‘But it just felt like the place I wanted to be. Does that sound weird?’

Grace shook her head. ‘No. Not at all. Sometimes a little bit of peace and quiet is exactly what we need.’

Leah slumped back down in her pew.

‘Can I join you?’ risked Grace. She had no idea what she was going to say, but if there was at least someone here for the poor girl, that might help.

Leah nodded.

‘What’s your name?’ Grace asked.

‘Leah,’ she said. ‘You?’

Grace swallowed. She had to think fast. On the ledge in front of them sat a hymn book. It said ‘Parish Church of St Paul’s’ on the cover in gold lettering.

‘Mrs Newman,’ said Grace with a confidence she didn’t feel. Paul Newman! Honestly. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes at herself.

‘Hi,’ said Leah, and then her eyes dropped back to her hands. Grace noticed that her nails were bitten and her fingertips red and sore.

‘Can I help at all?’ asked Grace as tenderly as she could.

Leah shook her head, but fat tears began to run down her cheeks and dripped from her jaw. Tentatively Grace put out a hand and touched her lightly on the thigh.

‘My mum died,’ said Leah. ‘And my dad left. And it’s Christmas. And everything is totally fucked. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’

And that was the whole, hideous mess in a nutshell. Grace would kill Charles.

‘Do you have anyone who can look after you?’ Grace asked. Maybe there were some other family members that she didn’t know about? She crossed her fingers metaphorically.

Leah shrugged. ‘I’ve got some friends,’ she said. ‘My friend’s mum has invited me for Christmas at least.’