OK, Anya,’ Mum says, but I’m not sure she believes it. ‘I can work extra shifts at the hotel, keep us going until things pick up.’

‘What if things don’t pick up?’ I ask.

‘If they don’t…’ Mum’s voice trails away, and Dad puts his head in his hands.

‘If the business fails, we have no choice,’ he says. ‘We must go home to Krakow.’

My heart freezes.

Not so very long ago, of course, that was all I wanted, but things are different now. Liverpool is no dream, but it’s not a nightmare, either. I guess I’m starting to see the place as it really is. I’m getting the hang of the language, coping better at school, starting to settle in. And I have friends, good friends, special friends.

I don’t know where home is any more, but I don’t think it’s Krakow.

Heaven’s big bay window has gone all Christmassy. Twinkling fairy lights are draped around the frames and brightly wrapped presents are piled up in heaps. A Christmas menu, pinned to the window, lists mysterious new cakes with names like Santa’s Special, Rudolf ’s Nose and Snowdrift Slice.

‘Can we try them?’ my little sister Kazia breathes.

Mum is working extra shifts at the hotel, which means that I’m taking care of Kazia after school these days. We hang out in the flat, curled up beside the rusty radiator doing homework, or come to the cafe with Frankie and Kurt to take advantage of Dan’s free cake offer.

Kazia loves it, and not just because of the cake. Dan’s mum makes a big fuss of her, and she gets to see Dan’s little brothers, Ben and Nate. Ben’s in her class at school, and sometimes the three of them take over a table and do homework together, or draw, or read comics, or teach each other rude words in English and Polish. Sometimes, they put on aprons and wait on the tables, and the customers always order an extra cake or an especially fancy kind of tea, just to please them.

Today, Christmas carols are playing in the cafe and Dan is behind the counter, wearing a Santa hat.

‘Now I’ve seen it all,’ Frankie says. ‘First an angel, then a saint?’

‘Saint?’ Dan frowns.

‘Saint Nicholas,’ Frankie says. ‘Santa, right? No beard? No padding? No reindeer?’

‘Ho, ho, ho,’ says Dan. ‘Very funny, Frankie.’

‘We have a special day for St Nicholas, in Poland,’ Kazia says. ‘December the sixth. Very soon!’

‘Yeah?’ Dan asks.

‘That’s right,’ I say. ‘If you are good, St Nicholas will come in a sleigh with a white horse, and leave apples and gingerbread and sweets in your shoes! Not everyone does it these days, but it’s a tradition in our family…’

‘In your shoes?’ he echoes. ‘I’ve never found sweets in my shoes before!’

‘That’s because you are not good,’ I tease. ‘Bad boy!’

‘I’m very good,’ Dan laughs. ‘Ask anyone. Well, anyone outside of school! This St Nick day sounds cool… like having two Christmases!’

Kazia’s face clouds. ‘This year is different,’ she says. ‘Maybe St Nicholas won’t even come. We are in Liverpool now, not Krakow. He might not find me.’

‘He’ll find you,’ Dan says with a wink to me. ‘Anya’ll make sure of that. Betcha anything.’

I flop down in the window seat with Frankie while Kazia joins Ben and Nate, who are making paper snowflakes in the corner.

Dan brings us drinks and a plate piled high with the new Christmas themed cakes. ‘No Kurt, today?’ he asks.

‘No,’ Frankie says, selecting a Snowdrift Slice. ‘His gran texted, telling him to come straight home. Not sure why. Wow, this cake is awesome… the window too! At least we know what you were doing all day, when you should have been at school. Draping fairy lights all around the window…’

‘Mum’s hoping the display will attract a few more customers,’ Dan says. ‘We sold three pots of tea, seven coffees, four milkshakes and thirteen cakes, yesterday. It’s not enough.’

‘Too right it’s not,’ Frankie agrees. ‘How much stuff did you give away for free?’

‘Er…’

‘Exactly,’ she says. ‘You have to get tough. Um… not with us, though.’

Dan laughs and drifts back to the counter, and Ringo looms over us, alarming in his orange satin coat. ‘Have you heard about the Lonely Hearts Club?’

‘Beatles song, isn’t it?’ Frankie says.

‘No, no, this is a special singles night, inspired by the song,’ he explains. ‘Every Friday night, starting this week, right here in Heaven. Ten-pound entry fee, to include a free cake and coffee, and Beatles songs playing all evening. All singles over the age of eighteen welcome. If