Em looked quite choked up, squeezing Maggie’s hand and thanking her. Then she deftly deflected the attention away from herself. ‘Let’s talk about more cheerful things,’ she suggested, ‘like someone who has, by the sound of it, cracked this whole relationship business.’ She waggled an eyebrow at Olivia, then went on, ‘Maggie, you’ll never guess, Olivia’s husband arranged for her to have a lovely break here on her own – how nice is that?’

‘Wow! Lucky you,’ said Maggie. ‘That’s so thoughtful. What a treat!’

But instead of smiling back at them, Olivia’s face fell and she shook her head. ‘It didn’t really happen like that,’ she confessed. She bit her lip. ‘Sorry, Em, I didn’t want to correct you the other day when you guessed that, because . . . Well, because the truth is a bit different. I’m not actually here because of any luxury treat. Far from it.’

She looked so distressed all of a sudden that Em and Maggie looked at one another in alarm. ‘Is everything all right?’ Maggie asked.

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have been so nosy,’ Em said. ‘You don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to.’

Olivia pressed her lips together. ‘It’s okay. I need to start facing facts anyway,’ she said, then sighed. ‘I’m here because I ran away, because I’m a crap mum,’ she went on, her voice trembling. ‘And somehow I’ve got to put things right, but I still don’t really know how.’

Em looked astonished. ‘Oh, darling,’ she cried in surprise. ‘I’m sure you’re not crap at all – it’s the hardest thing in the world, being a mum. The steepest learning curve!’

‘Nobody ever thinks they’re doing a great job of it, trust me,’ Maggie put in. ‘Nobody.’

‘We’re all just bumbling along at the end of the day, aren’t we?’ said Em. ‘Sometimes getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong. But you’re doing your best, I’m sure.’

Olivia hung her head. ‘I just . . . I mean, I do try, I really do, but it never seems to be good enough.’ A tear rolled down her cheek and dropped to the ground. ‘Thank you,’ she said in a tiny voice as Maggie reached into her cardigan pocket and pulled out a small packet of tissues, passing them over. ‘I’m not sure why I’m telling you all of this – sorry, I’m totally killing the ladies-night mood.’

‘Don’t be silly!’ Em cried.

‘Not at all,’ Maggie agreed. Then she hesitated. ‘So when you say you ran away . . .’

‘That’s what I did,’ Olivia said dully. ‘Just flipped out. Couldn’t cope. Dropped the boys off with a neighbour – I have three-year-old twins – and got in the car. Total impulse decision. What kind of a mother does that?’