‘Now –’ he stands, leaving Nan seated, looking all content and dreamy – ‘Olivia is going to tuck you into bed. I’ll help Gregory make tea, and George is going to deliver it to your room.’

‘If you insist.’

‘I do.’ Miller looks across to me, giving me an interested look when he catches my watery eyes. ‘Chop-chop.’

I mentally pull myself together and collect Nan from her chair, eager to escape the presence of my beautiful man before he has me wailing all over the kitchen. ‘OK?’ I ask as she takes slow steps out of the kitchen, up the corridor towards the stairs.

‘Never better,’ she answers with total sincerity, tugging painfully at my heartstrings. My contentment is soon stolen and replaced with dread because no matter how far down I bury it in my head, there’s one thing that I can’t hide from her forever.

Gracie Taylor.

I’m struggling to come to terms with it myself. Nan would never cope.

‘He’ll marry you one day,’ she muses to herself, snapping me from my wandering, agonising thoughts. ‘You mark my words, Olivia. I’ve never felt love so rich and pure in my eight decades of life.’ She takes the stairs gingerly, me following and holding her from behind, my mind in a whirlwind of conflict – indescribable happiness and overshadowing sadness. ‘Miller Hart loves you to death.’

Chapter 16

It takes me over an hour to tend to Nan, and I relish every moment, from helping her bathe to tucking her into bed. I dry and brush her hair, help her slip on her frilly nightie, and plump her pillows before helping her climb in. ‘I bet you’re loving this,’ she muses quietly, patting down the bedding around her. She’s sitting up, her grey curls perfectly swishing around her shoulders as she gets cosy.

‘I like looking after you,’ I admit, refraining from tagging on the end that I prefer looking after her when she really doesn’t need it. I want her well, back to normal. She may have regained her spunk, but I’m not delusional to think that makes her fully recovered.

‘You needn’t think I’ll allow you to slip back into that empty world you chose to hide in before Miller came along,’ she tells me, keeping her attention on the sheets. I pause with my fussing and watch as she looks at me from the corner of her eye. ‘Just so you know.’

‘I know,’ I appease her, ignoring the dash of doubt nibbling at the corner of my mind. It would be easy to hide again, rather than deal with all of the challenges ahead.

‘I’ve told you before, Olivia,’ she continues. I don’t like where this conversation is heading. ‘Falling in love is easy. Holding on to it is special. Don’t think I’m silly enough to believe everything is perfect. I see a besotted man. I see a besotted girl.’ She pauses. ‘And one thing I can see even clearer than that are the demons Miller Hart is harbouring.’

I lose my breath.

‘I can also see his desperation. He can’t hide from me.’ She watches me closely. I’m still holding my breath. ‘He’s depending on you, my darling girl. Help him.’

A light rapping at Nan’s bedroom door startles me and I rush across her room to open the door, my mind racing, the need to escape making me panic. I find George looking slightly reluctant as he balances a tray of tea in his hands. ‘OK, Olivia?’

‘Yes,’ I squeak, standing back to give him access.

‘Is she up for visitors? I have tea.’

‘Take me dancing, George!’ Nan yells from behind me, making George grin.

‘I’ll take that as a yes.’ George slips in, his grin widening when his eyes find her, all neat and tidy in her bed. ‘You look spectacular, Josephine.’

I’m surprised not to hear a scoff or sarcastic retort. ‘Thank you, George.’ Nan taps the bedside table in a signal for him to set the tray down, which he does promptly and carefully. ‘Let’s see if his tea is up to scratch.’

‘No one makes tea like you, Josephine,’ George says happily, popping a sugar into each teacup.

I observe them for a few moments as I hover at the doorway, smiling when I catch Nan smack the back of George’s hand and George laugh delightedly. He’s happy to have her home, and though she’ll never admit it, she’s as equally happy with George back under her roof. The role reversal may bring on more bickering than usual between the two of them.

‘I’ll be downstairs,’ I say, backing out of the room, but neither acknowledges my announcement and Nan continues to give George precise instructions as he attempts to make the tea to Nan’s standards. He’s attempting in vain. No one makes tea like Nan.

Leaving them to their comedy act, I take off down the stairs, relieved to be out of Nan’s radar, soon finding myself in the kitchen, where Miller is leaning against the worktop and Gregory is slumped in a chair. Both men look at me as I enter. I’m under close scrutiny, but while I’m uncomfortable, it’s a relief not to find them at each other’s throat. That relief soon fades when I take all of the anxious vibes being thrown my way and conclude why Miller and Gregory look so apprehensive.

Miller’s told him about my mum. Every defence mechanism loads, locks, and gets ready to fire at whoever decides to hit me with their thoughts first, but after a long painful silence and neither man has spoken, I take the situation into my own hands.

And bury my head a little farther.

‘She’s settled and George is with her.’ I head for the sink and plunge my hands into the soapy water. ‘She seems quite bright, but she needs to stay in bed for a week or so.’ I wash and place the few dirty mugs on the drainer and then swirl my hands around in the sink, vainly trying to locate something else to wash. ‘She’s going to be hard work.’

‘Olivia?’ Miller’s footsteps approach behind me. My eyes close and I give up blindly grappling in the water for nothing. ‘I think you’re done.’ He takes my hands from the sink and starts to dry them with a tea towel, but I shrug him off and grab a dishcloth.

‘I should wipe the table down.’ I slap the sopping material on the table, making Gregory shift back. I don’t miss the cautious look he tosses over my shoulder in Miller’s direction. ‘I need to keep the house spic-and-span.’ My hand works furiously across the pristine wood, wiping up a mess that isn’t even there. ‘She’ll only moan or try to clean up herself.’

Strong hands wrap around my wrists and hold them still. ‘Enough.’

My eyes climb his bespoke suit, up his neck, and onto his shadowed jaw. Blue eyes are sinking into me. Sympathetic eyes. I don’t need sympathy. I need to be allowed to get on with things.

‘I’m not ready,’ I whisper, swallowing down the lump forming in my throat, my eyes begging him to let me be.

‘And I don’t want to expose you to more pain.’ He pries the cloth from my hand, folding it neatly, while I silently thank him and breathe in some composure. ‘I’m staying here tonight, so I’ll need to pop home and collect some things.’

‘OK,’ I agree, busying myself by brushing down the front of my sundress.

‘Yeah, I should be going,’ Gregory pipes up, standing and putting his hand out to Miller, who accepts immediately, nodding sharply. It’s a silent message – something to reassure my best friend.