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‘But you were the best of friends.’

Alyssa’s heart felt strange for a moment. She rubbed it, though that didn’t seem to do the trick.

‘You’ll find her at Clucky Ducks Retirement Home, if you’re brave enough. She volunteers there with the oldies, on a Monday.’

‘No, I …’ Alyssa felt herself squirming in the truth chair. It really wasn’t as comfortable as it looked, if you stayed for too long.

A surprisingly strong hand shot out and clamped itself onto Alyssa’s knee. Ouch.

‘Don’t shut people out, like I once did. Don’t think I haven’t spotted you doing the same with Devan. You and that boy had a special thing. Sparks used to fly off the two of you, like you’d been electrocuted by a wet toaster. And I’m sure it must have stung when he ended up with Sylvie.’

Thanks for the reminder.

‘But that’s the thing about pain,’ Mrs Halfpenny continued, whether Alyssa wanted to hear it or not. ‘If you keep circling around it like a lost idiot on a roundabout, you’ll never get anywhere. You’ve got to face it, head on. You’ve got to go through it.’

‘Like a collision?’

‘Like the brave person you’ve always been, under all that pink hair and fancy mascara. Real life hurts, Miss Heart. But not as much as being a lonely, stubborn goat living in a cow shed for one with a mouse for a best friend.’

‘Two mice,’ Alyssa protested, a little meekly. ‘And I am starting to make more friends, since I arrived here.’ She pointed towards the shop, where she’d just been chatting with Jess and Anna Farina, even if their lovey chat had got a bit too much. ‘I’m even getting on better with Devan. I don’t actively want to cause him grievous bodily harm. In fact, there are certain times when I look at him, and …’ Her voice trailed off and she could feel her cheeks reddening. Damn that truth chair.

‘So the story ends there? She loved, she lost, she gave up, the end? Is that what you’d tell one of these people who come to you to have their love life fixed?’

In truth, she barely knew what she might tell a love coach client anymore. Maybe that’s why she was strangely avoiding having any. And perhaps if she stopped ignoring the keys to whatever had been keeping her heart locked, things would become clearer.

Her mum had mentioned there being a lot of rumours surrounding Sylvie and Devan. Devan had said what had happened between them wasn’t his story to tell. Was it Sylvie’s?

‘Going round and round that roundabout is making you dizzy,’ said Mrs Halfpenny, clearly noticing Alyssa’s confused face. ‘Follow the signposts.’

She nodded to a nearby wooden finger post. One of the places it pointed to was Clucky Ducks Retirement.

‘Or you can keep on spinning. It’s not for me to interfere. Obviously.’