‘Your boyfriend,’ he yelled. ‘I’ve a good mind to drive down there myself and—’

‘WHAT?’ said Em again, so shrill it was practically a shriek. She turned away, her heart thumping. Had Dom gone mad? ‘No,’ she told him. ‘No, no, no. That hasn’t happened. That has not happened.’

Too late. He had gone full volcano. ‘I trusted you to look after our child!’ he was raging. ‘She’s sixteen years old, for crying out loud! What in God’s name were you thinking? Is he some kind of weirdo or . . . ?’

People were staring at her. George was staring at her too, a frown creasing his forehead. Was that exasperation she could see in his eyes or something else? He must be getting sick of the constant soap opera of Em-and-her-kids, she thought with a lurch. ‘This is ridiculous,’ she said coldly, cutting Dom off mid-rant. ‘Stop shouting at me and listen: whatever Louise has said, she’s wrong. Nothing has happened, all right? Now I’m going to talk to Izzie and find out what this is all about, then I’ll call you back, okay?’ She hung up before he could say anything else and gulped in a breath. Her brain was whirring, unable to make sense of the conversation. Izzie had said what? She couldn’t have done. It must be a misunderstanding, a joke – mustn’t it?

‘What was all that about?’ George said, even though she was pretty sure he must have heard at least some of her ex-husband’s accusations. Bloody hell. How was she supposed to explain that?

‘I . . .’ She couldn’t even look at him. This was all too crazy. George wouldn’t have done anything with Izzie. He just wouldn’t. She was a child, and he was in his forties! But even so, her mind was already throwing up accusations, digging up old conversations.

How well do you actually know this man? Jenny had asked.

I wish George wasn’t here on holiday with us, Izzie had sighed.

Had something happened? Em wondered now in sudden horror. Was that why Izzie had been so weird this week? She thought about the moment when Izzie had walked out in her bikini, so womanly, so . . . well, so sexy. George had averted his gaze from her as if he felt uncomfortable about Izzie’s near-nudity. But that didn’t mean . . . Em shut her eyes for a moment, her thoughts racing. What did it mean?

‘Let’s talk about it later,’ she said, after a long awful moment, aware that Jack was eavesdropping like crazy. No doubt supergrass Seren was listening in too. She swallowed hard, trying to get a grip on the awful worries and fears that were already spinning wildly out of control. ‘He’s got the wrong end of the stick somehow – don’t worry, we’ll sort this out.’ Her own words sounded hollow, though, and her heart was galloping so hard it was making her feel queasy.