The second I get out of bed and wrap my thin dressing gown around me, I’m ravenous. I wander into the kitchen and ignore the bench littered with the detritus of last night’s gathering. Everyone left close to midnight and would have stayed longer, only Emma was worried her parents, who were babysitting Freddie, would be impatient. Finn is away for two months, working as a park ranger in the South Island. I know Emma misses him, but at least he’s managed to get two months’ leave approved for when their baby arrives.

Will offered to give a drunken Lily a lift home as it was close to his hotel. Which was very kind of him, I suppose, but also a small cause for concern. What did they talk about?

I make myself a tea and two pieces of toast and sit on the porch step in the sun. The second I’ve finished my toast, I phone Lily.

“Just checking you got home OK.”

Lily groans. “Darryl was waiting for me, pacing like a bloody jealous husband.”

“Is he there?” I ask.

“In the shower.”

I can hear Lily taking several gulps of what I assume is water. I suspect she might have a slight hangover.

“He wasn’t very pleased to see me dropped home by a handsome stranger, either.” She laughs. “Serves him right.”

“Lily, that’s awful. I hope you explained.”

“Of course I did. Last night and again this morning. He’s still got the pip with me.”

“I hope it’s going to be all right,” I say, fairly confident it will be.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I promised I’d go to some war movie tonight with him as penance. Not that I did anything wrong. Anyway, enough about me – we should talk about last night. There’s a lot to dissect, Trish, not least of which is this mysterious Scott. I think we should try to”

“Not a chance, Lils.” I use my no-nonsense work voice.

“All right then, Miss Enigma, how about Will? He asked me if you were pregnant, by the way. He said he didn’t want to mention it in case you were just fat.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, he used nicer words, but you get the gist.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth. That you were pregnant and the baby’s dad had been narrowed down to one of two possibilities.”

“Oh, God,” I groan. “What did he say then?”

“Truthfully? He laughed, Trish. Honest – he thought it was a crack-up. Said he was looking forward to getting to know you better.”

I’m silent, processing this information.

“He seems like an all-right brother, Trish. It must be nice to have contact with someone in your family.”

I know where this is heading. I’m not ready to talk to Lily about Mum and Dad. I’m not ready to talk to anyone.