He mumbled towards his coffee. ‘Zoe’s allergic to cat hair. But I did want you to look after her …’

‘Why?’

Phil looked up, and seemed genuinely miserable. ‘Because you’re so good at looking after things.’

‘Shades in the rain? Scared you’ll be recognized?’

‘I’ve got a headache,’ said Tara shortly, as she got into the air-conditioned passenger seat of Keith’s car.

An hour shuffling around a primary-coloured labyrinth of bookcases and plastic colanders waiting for your dad to collect you wasn’t the ideal way to process a broken relationship. But at least there were unlimited Daim bars and Swedish coffee. Maybe too many.

Keith checked his watch. ‘Do you want to go for a drink till it passes?’

‘No, I want to get out of here. I want to go home.’

Tara was horrified to hear her voice wobble, and turned her head away before he spotted her face crumpling. She’d been fine till she’d seen him there, waiting to collect her. Some part of her subconscious recognized her dad, making her want to bury her head in his chest; the stronger part of her brain yelled that he had no right, that she should maintain what dignity she had left.

‘Tara?’

The concern in his voice – the bloody fatherly concern – was too much. ‘No!’ It came out as a wail. ‘Just … don’t. Don’t feel sorry for me. And don’t hug me!’

Keith had started to extend a tentative hand but withdrew it. ‘OK. You’ve done the right thing. It’s never easy.’

‘Isn’t it?’

‘No. It’s not.’

Tara had a sudden thought: Sybil! She swung round to look at the back seat. Poor Sybil had been trapped in her carrier all day: she would be absolutely furious.

But the back seat was empty.

Tara swivelled back. ‘Dad? Where’s Sybil? What have you done with the cat?’

‘I took her home,’ said Keith.

‘When?’ Tara tried to calculate the distances in her head; he must have driven back to Longhampton and turned around immediately. And put his foot down too.

‘I’m no cat expert, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate being in a basket for four hours.’ He shrugged in a ‘you got me’ manner and added, ‘And also to get her out of the way. I didn’t want you changing your mind. Or this Phil character demanding her back.’

‘But what about your lunch?’

‘Rearranged for next weekend.’

‘You cancelled your lunch to take a cat home? Why?’

Keith sighed. ‘At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card, Tara, it felt like the right thing to do. I wasn’t there for any of the other boys you’ve broken up with. And Sybil’s a nice cat.’

Tears flooded her eyes. ‘Shut up.’

‘OK. Not what I was expecting but … fair enough.’

‘No, I mean, shut up, or I’ll start crying again.’