Tiny fairy lights were strewn between the lights in the lounge. Music played from Belle’s iPod – a strange mix which they had somehow agreed upon. Apart from birthday parties for Belle involving ice cream and jelly, this was the first party Rory had thrown in years. Maybe that’s why she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Sheila had been the first to arrive. ‘Barb couldn’t come, and I feel a little bit weird being at a party so soon after Olive. I might only stay a little while, but I didn’t want to let Belle down.’ She unbuttoned her cardigan and then started to button it up again.

Rory was hoping most of the guests would only stay a short while. ‘That’s fine, Mum. Go whenever you need to. Is everything okay?

Sheila stopped buttoning, or unbuttoning, and looked at Rory. ‘I spoke to George.’

‘Well done.’ Rory was impressed that Sheila had started to ‘make things happen’ to patch things up with George, but it did mean that Rory would have to uphold her side of the bargain and talk to John. If he turned up.

Sheila motioned for Rory to go back through to the sitting room and she followed her. ‘I can’t take the credit. I was fully prepared to knock on his door and talk to him, but he got there first.’

Rory turned around to look at her mother. Belle and Charlie were still upstairs, so it was just the two of them and Justin Bieber on the iPod. ‘Oh?’

Sheila settled herself on the sofa. ‘I was watching TV last night and there was a knock on my door. When I lived at the house I would have been worried about who might be the other side, but I don’t have to worry about that now.’

‘Mum. Cut to the chase.’

Sheila pulled a face. ‘Well, I opened the door and there he was. He said that he was sorry to turn up so late – it was only 9 p.m. – but he had been meaning to come all day and had finally plucked up the courage.’ She held up her hand to stop Rory rushing her again. ‘I let him in and made him a cup of tea. We slipped into our old way of chatting, although it was a little different to be in my home rather than his.’ She paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. ‘Actually, he has probably only been to my flat a couple of times before and he never stayed for longer than a few moments because he always had to get back to Olive.’

‘Mother, please!’

‘Let me tell it my way, Aurora. No one else is here yet, anyway.’

Rory sighed. She had a point.

‘We talked about the funeral and how good everyone has been, calling him and checking he’s okay. I told him how much I’m missing Olive. One of the songs we listened to together came on the radio a few days ago and it really knocked me for six.’

Rory felt bad for rushing her mum.

‘Then I talked about your dad and how I felt in the early days after we lost him. George thought he’d be prepared when Olive went, because he’d been losing her piece by piece for a long time. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t prepared at all. Well, you never are, are you?’

‘No, Mum. You never are. I’m glad he’s got you to talk to about it.’

Sheila smiled. ‘We did talk and talk. It was almost eleven o’clock. I told him that he’d have to sneak out or we’d both be in trouble with Flo. We laughed about that and I told him what Barb had done when she moved out. She bought some slinky underwear for Flo and wrapped it up for her with a label saying, “Some new knickers to replace the ones you always get into a twist” or something like that. Flo almost blew a gasket. When she unwrapped them in the communal lounge in front of everyone, I think Sid nearly blew a gasket too.’

Rory grinned. ‘I’m glad you can have a laugh. I’m sure that will do George good.’ She stood up with the intention of going to the kitchen to rearrange the glasses again. Guests would start arriving soon.

But Sheila hadn’t finished. ‘That’s when he said it. The thing that he’d come to say. The reason he has not been able to talk to me since Olive died. The reason he has been feeling guilty.’

Rory turned to look at her. ‘Which was?’

Sheila fiddled with the locket around her neck. ‘That he has feelings for me. More than just being a friend. And he feels terrible about it.’

The doorbell rang. Promising she would be straight back, Rory left Sheila in the sitting room to go and welcome her guests. Charlie was halfway down the stairs, but when he saw the group of teachers from St Anthony’s, he pulled a face and disappeared back in the direction of his bedroom.

By the time Rory returned to her mum, Sheila was in the kitchen and had put the kettle on. Nothing said ‘banging party’ more than an old lady drinking tea.

Sheila smoothed her hair down. Then her dress. Then her hair again. ‘We’re just friends, though, me and George. There’s nothing going on.’

‘Really?’ This was the perfect opportunity for revenge. ‘Nothing going on? I’ve seen the way you look when you talk about him, young lady.’

Sheila held up a warning finger. ‘Don’t you dare.’

Rory was enjoying this. ‘Maybe I should go and see him. Check what his intentions are?’

Sheila’s face dropped. ‘Oh, Rory. Please don’t. Not even as a joke. It’s too soon to be…’

‘Mum. Really? Of course, I won’t. Although it’s for his sake, not yours. You deserve it after the ribbing you’ve given me these last couple of months.’

‘Yes, where is John?’ Sheila looked around. ‘Is he coming later?’ She screwed up her eyes. ‘You did invite him, Aurora? We had a deal.’

Rory had needed to drink a large glass of wine to summon up the courage to call John and ask him if he’d got the party invite Belle had sent. But she had got his voicemail and chickened out. Sheila didn’t need to know that.

‘He’s probably working, Mum. You know what he’s like when he’s on a job.’ When he was working at Rory’s he’d always been popping around. He was probably always like that. Rory hadn’t been anything special. Just another single mother to help.

‘I know what he was like when he was on this job.’ Sheila looked keenly at Rory. ‘Must be strange not having him around the place.’

Strange didn’t come close. Charlie was still in and out all the time and Belle had stayed closer to home since The Nobhead incident. But it wasn’t the same as having adult company. For someone who didn’t speak much, it was surprising how big a space John left behind.

But Rory wasn’t about to admit that. ‘Oh, look. Susie’s here. I’ll speak to you later, Mum. Say goodbye before you go.’

Susie’s face was strained. Dragon Man was with her. But he couldn’t have looked less with her if he tried. Susie held up two bottles of Prosecco. ‘Shall I put these in the kitchen?’

Rory followed her out. ‘Everything okay?’

Susie shook her head. ‘I think you were right about him. He’s been downright horrible this evening. Almost scary. I nearly told him not to come but then he turned on the charm, said he’s just had a bad day at work.’

Rory was pleased that Susie was beginning to see the light, but not that Jim was making her unhappy. ‘What does he do when he’s at work?’

Susie screwed up her face. ‘I’m not really sure. He doesn’t have a regular job. It all seems pretty casual.’

That was weird. They’d been dating for a few weeks now. Wasn’t that one of the first questions you asked someone? ‘What do you mean? Surely it’s come up?’

‘Sort of. I know he works on building sites. But I don’t think he’s like your John. Because, when I asked him to fix my shelf, he didn’t have any tools for it.’

There was no point taking her up on the ‘your John’.

Dragon Man appeared in the doorway. ‘So, this is where you’ve disappeared to. Talking about me, are you?’ His smile was almost a leer. What the hell had Susie ever seen in him?

Rory didn’t want to hang around and play nicely, especially if Susie was going to give him the heave-ho. ‘I’m just going to check on Belle.’

Belle was in the middle of her group of friends, telling them a story. Her hands were all over the place as she explained something in great detail. She looked radiant. Rory’s heart squeezed. She was going to be just fine.

As soon as the story was finished, Rory put her hands on Belle’s shoulders. ‘I’m really sorry to interrupt, but do you know where Charlie is?’

‘Sorry, Mum, I meant to tell you. He’s gone to Harry’s house. He was bored anyway and then when he realised there were going to be other teachers here, he couldn’t face it. I think his exact words were: “It’ll be like a detention but with rubbish music.”’

Rory could see his point. She wasn’t enjoying the party much herself. Maybe she should go to Harry’s, too. At least there would be biscuits.

‘Also, Mum, do you mind if I go back and stay at Fiona’s tonight? The other girls are staying there and it’ll be fun to have a sleepover.’ Belle grinned at her girlfriends. ‘It’ll be like the old days.’

Rory did mind. There was a loneliness she hadn’t been able to shrug off all evening. If Charlie was at Harry’s and Belle was at Fiona’s, the house would be empty. Her mum was planning on leaving soon and she didn’t want to ask her to stay – she had a sneaky suspicion she might be planning on seeing George. But she couldn’t stop Belle having fun. ‘Of course not. I’m glad you want to get out again. You enjoy yourself.’

Maybe Susie would stay with her tonight. Rory turned to look for her. Dragon Man was in the corner of the sitting room, standing alone, slowly drinking beer from a can. He was staring straight at her. But, where was Susie?

Rory excused herself from Belle’s friends, who were already cackling about some other boy in their year. She found Susie as soon as she walked into the kitchen, talking to a tall slim man. He turned as Rory came in. Was that… Colin the librarian?