I open my bedroom door. Abigail’s standing there, two mugs of tea in her hands. She gives me a warm smile. I don’t know why but she sort of reminds me of Emma’s sister. Whenever I was feeling upset or angry at all, and I didn’t want to talk to Emma, when I was in my early teens, I’d always ring her; we always had such a close relationship when I was growing up. It altered slightly when she had Milo and Niall; she didn’t have as much time for me as she once had. It used to make me jealous of my cousins, it made me feel like they were taking her away from me.

‘Hi, Grace, I hope you don’t mind me popping by like this, but I thought I’d just come over for a quick chat.’

‘Oh, sorry, I completely forgot you’d asked me to come and see you.’

‘That’s quite alright; I know Mary gave you a few tasks to do. Do you mind if I come in, I brought you a cup of tea? I wasn’t sure if you had sugar or not so I just did it without to be safe.’ She holds a mug with painted gold stars out to me.

‘That’s fine, I don’t take sugar anyway,’ I say, stepping back. I place my phone face down on the bedside cabinet, just in case Max replies to me while Abigail’s in the room, I can’t risk her seeing it. ‘Um, I guess you may as well sit on the bed.’

Abigail beams and does as I suggest, handing me the mug she’s brought with her.

‘You and Eve seem to be getting on well,’ she says as we both sit on the edge of the bed, I hold the palm of my hand over my tea as we sit to avoid spilling it.

I nod. ‘Oh, yeah, we had a good chat when we were doing the laundry earlier. She . . . she told me about how she found this place.’ And then she didn’t seem to want anything to do with me.

Abigail shakes her head. ‘Yes, it’s such a sad story, but at least it’s one with a happy ending. There are so many people in the world, who go through the same struggles, who don’t have that. Since Eve joined she’s become a real asset here, she’s so helpful, and will do anything for anyone, you don’t have to even ask, it’s like she already knows what you want to ask her. Mary and I sort of took her under our wing when she first joined and since then she’s flourished. When she first came here she was such a quiet thing, I’m so pleased with the way how she’s developed.’ Abigail sips her tea, and crosses her legs. ‘Anyway, it was actually Eve who I wanted to speak to you about.’

I stare at her. ‘Um . . . OK,’ I say. ‘Why do you want to speak to me about Eve?’

‘I wanted to talk to you specifically about Eve and Callum,’ she says.

Heat races into my cheeks. Eve and Callum, what the hell? ‘OK, why?’

She smiles at me. ‘I’ve not been the only one to notice Eve’s attraction to Callum and it’s clear to see why; he’s very good looking, and not only that, he’s kind and compassionate, which is a real rarity today, even rarer in men. I know you’ve said you’re not in a relationship, and that you look at Callum as more of a brother, if anything, but I was wondering if you might want to speak to him, and encourage him, to spend more time with Eve. Do you think you would be able to do that for me?’

I stare at her. God, she’s asking me to help put Callum and Eve together. I hold onto my tea tighter, I feel as though I’ve slipped into a dream. ‘I . . . I’ve no idea if he feels the same way about Eve as she feels about him.’ My phone buzzes on my bedside cabinet, making my flinch, Abigail appears not to have noticed, or at the very least she’s not bothered by it. It’s got to be Max replying to my message.

‘That’s why we need to let this spark between them grow,’ Abigail says. ‘When I first came here, I didn’t feel anything for Isaac, and I’m guessing he felt the same about me, but with time, and as we were encouraged, more and more, to spend time with each other, a bond between us deepened, and now I’m so glad I’ve found him. Oliver was instrumental back then in helping our relationship grow and we’ll be forever thankful for that.’

Shit, shit, shit. How can I try and persuade Callum to deepen his friendship with Eve? I focus on my bedroom door, breathing steadily. What if some sort of connection does end up developing between Callum and Eve? Will he want to leave if that happened? I look back to Abigail. She’s giving me a look that tells me, right now, this is the most important thing in the world to her.

‘Um, yeah, sure, I can . . . I guess I can speak to Callum,’ I say, shifting on my bed. ‘But I’m not going to try and force anything.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Abigail says. ‘And of course, I wouldn’t expect you to try and force anything between them, love needs to develop naturally, but I’m sure, once we push them in the right direction, it will. I knew I could count on you, Grace. Oliver will be so thrilled that you’ve agreed to help.’

‘Have you um . . . spoken to Eve about her feelings?’ I ask, taking a big gulp of my tea.

Abigail sighs. She hasn’t taken a sip of her drink since she came in. ‘Unfortunately, Eve is a very closed book when it comes to talking about her feelings. I spoke to her about her obvious attraction to Callum this morning and she sort of shut down and brushed the subject away, but that’s what we do when we like someone, don’t we, we can’t help it, we’re embarrassed. I remember how I felt when I fancied a boy at school, every time my friends asked me about him, I went bright red and ran as far away from them as I could, the sounds of them laughing at me used to follow me all the way home. Even now I can still hear it. Anyway I’m rambling here, aren’t I? That’s all I really wanted to talk to you about. I guess I’ll see you at dinner?’

‘Yeah, see you there,’ I say.

Abigail gets up from the bed and makes her way over to the door. I think of Callum somewhere back up at the house, unaware this conversation between me and Abigail is happening. We’re basically deciding his future for him, it’s clear to me, Abigail doesn’t give a damn what Callum thinks, it’s all about what she thinks is the best thing.

I reach for my phone and pick it up, my body shaking. Max has replied.

            From: Max Hardy

            To: Danielle Olsen

            Date: 15 June 2024 at 14:20

            Subject: Oliver Adams

            Hi Danielle, I didn’t think I’d hear from you again after we spoke. I can look into this for you, but it’s going to have to be under the radar, I can’t have anyone finding out what I’m doing after what happened the last time, I’m not putting myself through that again. Who is this bloke, what do you know about him?

I type out a reply.

            To: Max Hardy

            From: Danielle Olsen

            Date: 15 June 2024 at 14:30

            Subject: Oliver Adams

            Not much at the moment, but I can get more information for you, all I know about him is, and I’m not sure if it’s true, is his wife died in a car accident which must've been around thirty years ago now. It would've happened, I think, in Leigh on Sea. I’ve tried looking for stuff about it online but nothing’s been reported. Give me some time and I’ll be able to get some more information.

I press send. Max’s reply comes back in seconds. He must be sat by his phone or computer the whole time. Sometimes I get a message and it takes me ages to respond.

            To: Danielle Olsen

            From: Max Hardy

            Date: 15 June 2024 at 14:30

            Subject: Oliver Adams

            OK, but where are you, Danielle? You’re not in any sort of trouble, are you?

I type a reply.

            To: Max Hardy

            From: Danielle Olsen

            Date: 15 June 2024 at 14:30

            Subject: Oliver Adams

            No, I’m fine. I’ll try and get some more information for you by this evening, but I don’t know how easy it’s going to be.

I press send and place my phone in my lap. If there’s anyone who can find out more information about Oliver, I’m sure it’ll be Max.