Suddenly, the conversation had taken a turn for the worse. ‘Hannah. Wait. I wasn’t implying that you couldn’t …’

‘I have to go.’ There was a note of desperation in Hannah’s tone. Chloe couldn’t hear Jordan anymore, but could sense his presence from two hundred miles away.

‘OK. Hannah, I want you to know that you can call me any time or text or email me. Or your father. If you need us.’

‘Mum. I’m fine. Please, why won’t you understand that I’m fine …’ There was a child’s wail and then the male voice again. Chloe couldn’t hear what was said but Hannah muttered, ‘Yes, I’m coming!’ Then, ‘Sorry.’

The phone clicked off. Chloe stared at it in her hand before tossing it onto the sofa. She hugged herself and paced around the flat. Fine. I’m fine. For God’s sake, that phrase had to be the biggest lie on the planet. Hannah and Chloe had both said it to each other more than once when the opposite was clearly true.

Yet Hannah had at least taken the call. That had to be something and all Chloe’s instincts as a mum told her that Hannah wanted to take a step towards reconciliation … but the call had also left her no further forward. Jordan was in the house, and possibly listening in to Hannah’s side of the conversation. Maybe when her daughter had some time alone, she might call back … Plus those final comments … what did they mean?

‘Yes, I’m coming!’ That was obviously meant for Jordan. Or possibly little Ruby. And the ‘Sorry’ – that could have been directed at either of them, or at Chloe herself. Or maybe she was overthinking things. She was at a loss for what to do next, if anything at all. Instinct made her want to rush over to Bristol that minute, but common sense told her to leave things as they were, and hope Hannah reached out to her.

Chloe caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her mascara had smudged, leaving her with two spidery imprints under her eyes. She’d better go and wipe it off in the bathroom. She picked up the phone again on the off-chance Hannah had texted her. There was no message, of course, but she did notice one thing.

The time.

‘Oh shit!’

She was late for the festival meeting. In fact, it had probably already started.

Chapter Eight

Sam glanced at her watch again. Almost half an hour late. That was nothing for some people, but it was unusual for Chloe whose punctuality and organisational skills were terrifyingly good. It didn’t matter too much because Sam and the others had passed the time by looking through the new publicity material that Zennor and Ben had created. Her fingers had itched to google ‘Gabe Mathias girlfriend’, but she hadn’t dared in case someone caught her.