Never good words. Deek got the surprise visitors we all hope we'll never get - police on your doorstep with bad news. But Alice Henderson's death was totally out of the blue.
It's the end of an era for Deek and the Hendersons: all those years trying to help his mum, as she battled the bottle, and her demons. And Alice had demons by the gallon - all underpinned by her troubles with the drink.
The last time Deek saw his mum was when she left Shieldinch, in the devastating aftermath of his granda George's funeral. At this time Alice found out that her real father was her uncle, and vodka appeared to be the only source of comfort. When she fell off the wagon this time Deek reached the limit of his patience: he told her to get out of his life - for good.
Stella certainly hit the nail on the head, when she pointed out to Deek that his desire to rescue her was all about his relationship with his mum. But how will Stella be able to fix Deek? Can friendship, or love, patch over the cracks in a broken person?
