‘You don’t think …’ Her chest tightened. Did he think she’d dropped him in it? That she valued Jacqueline’s opinion over his trust? ‘David, I didn’t tell Jacqueline, if that’s what you came round to talk to me about.’

He looked at her, and Tara suddenly felt hurt that he seemed to be weighing it up. She didn’t want David to think badly of her. His opinion mattered. His friendship mattered. More than she’d realized until now.

‘I wouldn’t,’ she insisted.

His face softened. ‘I know it wasn’t you.’

‘Really?’

‘Really. You wouldn’t have snitched to the teacher without telling me first. It’s not your style.’ He paused, then added, ‘And we’re friends. Work friends, obviously.’

His eyes were locked on hers, searching her face, and she wondered what her own eyes were giving away. Work friends didn’t generally drive round the flooded countryside on mercy missions like this.

‘Plus you could have checked in with Sybil,’ she pointed out.

It seemed to break the spell. ‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘But right now, she’s more concerned about finding this stupid dog you keep letting in her house.’

They slithered round a couple of fields, with no sign of Lloyd, and then Tara’s phone rang. She grabbed it, thinking it might be Keith, but it was Toby.

‘Molly’s hysterical,’ he said. ‘She hasn’t stopped crying since we got back and she’s making noises like she’s about to be sick. What was that stuff Mum used to funnel into us every time we sneezed?’

‘Calpol.’ She could hear Molly crying in the background and it went through her like a knife, right under the ribs. ‘I don’t think we’ve got any.’

‘Brandy? Can you still give kids brandy?’

‘No! Don’t give her brandy. Just … just make her a cup of tea and put a boxset on.’

‘Any word from Dad?’

‘No, not yet.’

David was giving her the full mind-reading stare when she ended the call. ‘Everything OK?’

Tara closed her eyes, but when she did, Molly’s ashen face floated up. Tara needed to help her.

‘Lloyd means the world to Molly,’ she said. ‘He’s the one stable thing in her life. She’s an only child, her mum’s struggling with addiction, and her dad’s a …’ She stopped the automatic words spilling out. They were Ruth’s words. What did she really think of the man who’d reappeared? A man who was full of problems, but attempting to find some solutions at the same time. Without once bad-mouthing her mother, though he had every reason to.

What did she think?

‘Dad’s trying to be a better father this time round, but I don’t know how much he’s there. Lloyd’s her rock.’