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man.’
    ‘Dad, I still love him,’ she countered. ‘Please don’t tell me to go and meet someone else! You have no idea what the guys out there are like! I’m nearly thirty … and I thought we were going to end up together. I really did.’
    ‘I’m sorry, Kim. I didn’t mean to be insensitive,’ he apologized. ‘I know how much well-intentioned words often hurt. Telling somebody when they lose the one they love that they will meet someone else is bloody awful – an insult, and certainly not what they want to hear.’
    ‘Dad!’ Kim flung herself into his arms and hugged him. One of the things she loved most about her dad was that he never changed. He still smelled of the same soap and aftershave, and wore the same clothes and shoes, and held her the same way he had done ever since she could remember.
    ‘Where are you staying? You are welcome to move in here with us if you need to.’
    She thought of their spare room. There was a single bed, but the room was turned into a study with a computer and printer, and all her father and Carole’s books and papers and files neatly displayed on one wall.
    ‘It’s okay – I’m staying with Liz for the moment.’
    ‘I could talk to Carole,’ he offered. ‘She’d understand.’
    ‘Honestly, it’s fine, Dad.’
    Kim knew that moving in with Carole and her father was certainly not an option. Carole was very good to her father and had given him a new lease of life. She got on well with everyone in the family, but had made it clear when she married him that she was marrying Bill and not his children. Carole had no intention of trying to step into the late Ruth O’Reilly’s shoes.
    ‘Dad, it’s fine, honest. It’s nice being with Liz and the kids, but I’ve got to find a place of my own.’
    ‘If you are short of funds for a deposit or whatever, let me know.’
    An hour later Carole returned from golf.
    ‘What a surprise!’ she smiled, joining them in her pink Pringle jumper and golfing gear.
    ‘Kim came over to tell me about her and Gareth breaking up,’ explained Bill. ‘It’s all rather awkward.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Carole, glancing nervously at her.
    ‘I’ve told Kim she can stay with us if she needs to,’ he continued.
    She could see the look on Carole’s face, torn between being polite and supportive but not wanting to be involved.
    ‘Dad, Carole, it’s fine,’ she interjected. ‘I’m staying at Liz’s until I get a new place.’
    ‘Well, that’s okay, then.’ Kim could see relief etched across the older woman’s face. ‘I know how close sisters can be.’
    ‘Well, she’ll stay for dinner with us at least,’ her dad continued. ‘I think there’s some chicken in the fridge.’
    ‘Liz is expecting me.’ She’d no intention of having dinner here and hearing Carole lecture her about her poor life choices. ‘She’s making a big dish of lasagne.’
    ‘Another night, then,’ he promised.
    As he walked her out to the doorstep, it amazed her how her father had somehow managed to adjust to life without her mother. He seemed happy despite everything. Living here in his small house with a woman who was so different from her mum, it was unbelievable.
    ‘I know how awful you must be feeling, Kim, but things will get better – I promise,’ he reassured her as she got into her car.
    ‘Dad, to be honest, right now it feels like they couldn’t get any worse …’

Chapter 6
    ROZ GILMORE WELCOMED MOLLY WARMLY TO HER RED-BRICK terraced home on Victoria Road.
    ‘You sit down and I’ll get us a drink. What will it be – a sherry, a G & T, or maybe a glass of wine?’
    ‘I could do with a glass of wine – a big one!’ Molly laughed, flopping down in the massive armchair in the sitting room as Roz disappeared off to the kitchen.
    Looking around she could see that nothing had changed here over the years. Everything was practically the same as when they were kids and had gone to school together. Roz was still living in her parents’ house