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‘Terrified,’ Holly answered truthfully.

‘Well, that’s ridiculous.’

‘Believe me, it’s not.’ Holly raised her eyebrows, to which Evan only shrugged.

‘This won’t go anywhere near as bad as you think. In an hour’s time, you’ll probably be laughing about all this. And then you’ll realise that being terrified was completely pointless. Come on, we should go, lest you want to leave your mum at the station for an hour. Just for payback.’

‘It’s tempting, but we should probably get going.’

Holly found it odd being a passenger in her own car, particularly with Evan driving. As judgemental as she was, she couldn’t help but think of how he was used to driving on the other side of the road, both in France and America. She knew he lived in London now and had done for years, but he didn’t own a car there, was happy to jump into black cabs for wherever he needed to go. Still, she’d made sure he’d got comprehensive insurance on her car, and, despite her reservations, he seemed to be a perfect driver. She just needed to work on her passenger skills. That was all. Especially as she was likely to be stuck in the situation for a while yet.

They took the Fosseway for almost the entire journey. The straight, Roman road passed around the outskirts of Bourton, then Stow-on-the-Wold, before it cut straight through the centre of Moreton-in-Marsh. Even with the busy road going through the middle of it, Holly had always considered Moreton one of the prettiest towns in the area, with its ivy-covered restaurants and large, Cotswold stone town hall that stood in the centre, dominating the view with its clock tower. It also had the advantage of having a train station, unlike many other small towns in the area.

As they headed over the final bridge, Holly’s nerves took another upward turn, which surged further still as they parked up at the exact moment the train arrived.

We’re back!

A message pinged up on Holly’s screen only a moment later, and she placed her phone on the dashboard and took a deep breath in.

‘Shall I come with you? I can help with their bags?’ Evan asked. ‘They might need a hand.’

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I should probably see them on my own first. You know, with all of this, and everything.’ She gestured to the cut on her forehead.

Evan grimaced.

‘They’re going to kill me, aren’t they?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Holly replied, although she sounded far from convincing.

With another deep breath in, she kissed him on the lips before climbing out of the car and heading down to the platform.

The position of the car park allowed Holly to spot her parents before they saw her, giving her a chance to observe just how much good the break had done them. They were deep in conversation and their smiles were wide as they held hands. In fact, they were so absorbed with gazing at one another, they seemed oblivious to everything else in the world. Holly couldn’t remember seeing her father so relaxed. Not since his heart attack, at least. It was as if those few days away had somehow wiped the wrinkles from his face. From both their faces. Although those wrinkles and worry lines reappeared the moment they looked up and saw Holly.

‘Hey, how are you? How was the break?’ Holly asked. She smiled widely, hoping that just like on the phone, a large smile and some questions might divert attention from the massive cast and stitches on her forehead.

‘Oh, my goodness.’ Her mother dropped her bag as she raced towards Holly. ‘What happened?’

She fingered the stitches on Holly’s forehead, causing Holly to wince in pain. Her mother’s eyes welled with tears.

‘Holly, why didn’t you let us know? What happened to you?’

‘It’s fine, Mum. It’s a broken arm and a few stitches, that’s all.’

‘But how? What on earth happened?’

‘It was an accident.’ Holly wondered momentarily if she could just keep things vague and get away with it that way.

‘What do you mean? Do you mean a car accident? Is the car okay? Was Hope in it? Oh my goodness, where’s Hope?’ Her mother was in near hysterics now as she scanned around as if Hope might somehow appear on the platform.

Holly placed her hand on her mother’s shoulder.

‘It wasn’t a car accident, Mum. I was on a Vespa.’

‘A Vespa?’ Her mother frowned, her hysterics replaced with confusion. ‘What do you mean, a Vespa?’

‘Evan bought me one, you know, as a present.’

Holly’s father, who had remained entirely silent until that point, let out an almighty roar.