‘You definitely need to talk to someone,’ Emily was insisting. ‘I can ask my own supervisor if she could squeeze you in? She’s really good. And look, if you need to go home to process, go home. Jacqueline will understand. Bryan had the day off when Scotland got knocked out of the Rugby World Cup. And Anji claims she needs three days off every year to mourn the passing of Amy Winehouse. Three days! Every year!’

‘To be fair, she does claim to get a lot of her spiritual guidance from Amy.’

‘That’ll be why it’s usually the first three days of Glastonbury, then.’

Tara could only imagine how frazzled she looked when Emily changed her tone to out-and-out sympathy. ‘Speaking as a friend and a counsellor, Tara, I’m telling you to go home, take some time to get your head around this. Now. Don’t try to work today. It’s not fair to your clients.’

‘I can’t. You’ve seen my schedule for this week.’ Tara shrugged helplessly. ‘I’ve got people who’ve already had to cancel and rearrange twice.’

‘Then they can wait a little bit longer. I’ve only got two appointments this morning, I could cover for you – if it’s appropriate?’

It wasn’t, not really. ‘Thanks, Emily, I appreciate it. But I’ll be OK.’

Emily remained unconvinced. ‘So what’s going to happen next? How’s your dad going to take care of Molly if he’s on a building site? Has he got childcare lined up?’

These were also very good questions that hadn’t occurred to Tara. ‘And there’s another very good reason why I’d prefer not to be at home this morning. Oh, speak of the devil …’

Her phone was ringing. Dad mobile.

She turned it over on the table with a slightly unworthy frisson of power. Let him see what it felt like to be ignored when you really, really needed to talk to someone.

That didn’t make her feel better, though. It gave her the same guilty-sick feeling that she got immediately after ‘treating herself’ to a whole chocolate orange in one go.

And – Tara couldn’t help noticing in that quick glance at her phone – Toby hadn’t called back to check in with her. The emotional ground beneath her feet started to shift again, and she had to make a conscious effort to pull herself back.

It’s not like your house has been flooded and you’ve lost your family’s photo albums and your wedding dress. It’s not like you’ve had to borrow money you can’t afford, or comfort your child through nightmares.

Tara straightened her spine and forced out a bright smile. ‘Wow. Is that the time? Need to get a move on! I’m getting a croissant to take into work. Want one?’

‘No, thanks,’ replied Emily, but the despairing look that accompanied said a lot more.