‘He’s conscious, I’ve spoken to him, he looks like he’s been hit in the face with a bag of spanners, and his right arm and shoulder are strapped up and plastered but he’ll live.’ Her voice sounded shaky.

‘Thank goodness.’ I flopped on to my bed, weak with relief. ‘Give him a kiss from me and send him all my love.’

‘I will. He asked about you and I said you wanted to come but your passport had expired. “Classic Lottie,” he said.’

‘Evie!’ I rolled my eyes. ‘What if I wanted to go and see him next week?’

‘You’ll have to say you got an emergency one. Sorry, but I was doing my best not to mention the baby and I panicked. Anyway, at least it made him smile.’

‘Poor old Dad.’ I so wanted to be there and hug him myself. ‘So what happens now?’

‘No idea. Agnes has gone to find out, but I think he’ll be in for a few days.’

‘Do you think I’ll be able to talk to him tomorrow?’

‘I’ll try to sort something out, even if I have to smuggle my phone on to the ward. It’s very hi-tech; the hospital is like a spaceship but the doctors and nurses all speak good English. It took us a while to find him and it’s half past ten here now. Agnes has offered to put us up at her house, so at least we don’t have to find a hotel. Apparently his motorhome is parked there already.’

Us. In all the excitement it had slipped my mind that Darren was with her.

‘What’s Agnes like?’ All I knew so far about her was that she was German and rode a motorbike. In my head I had a picture of a Germanic version of Joanna Lumley: long-legged and glamourous, wearing leather trousers and red lipstick.

‘She’s fab. She’s like a twinkly-eyed little koala bear: tubby, short with wiry grey hair.’ Evie giggled and lowered her voice. ‘Goodness knows how she gets her leg over a motorbike.’

I heard a low male voice in the background followed by a kissing noise.

‘And, er, how’s the other man in your life?’ I asked.

‘Darren’s right here,’ she said, and I could tell she was smiling. ‘Holding my hand and listening in.’

I let out a breath. ‘So you didn’t mind me interfering?’

‘Somebody needed to,’ I heard Darren say. ‘We were making a right pig’s ear of it by ourselves.’

‘Thank you, sis,’ said Evie. ‘We’ve talked and talked about what we each want and where we go from here.’

‘And …?’ I held my breath.

‘The most important thing is that we still love each other more than ever. And when you’ve got love, everything else will work itself out.’

‘I’m so pleased.’ I let out a breath. ‘So no divorce?’