A jury. Helena signalled for the bill. She’d abandoned her ham salad. Imo was efficiently scanning through her phone contacts, murmuring to Helena about lawyers. People she knew. Helena was responding with her own suggestions. They’d moved on. And actually, in a way, I had too. After they dropped me back at the house, at the end of the drive out of sight of the parents, and we’d all got out and hugged hard, I stood for a moment in the lane as they drove away. I felt better. I was even beginning to feel an element of ‘bring it on’. I find that can happen when one takes a scary situation to its worst possible conclusion. And aside from the court case, there was a potentially even worse situation around the corner: prison. But I felt I could almost contemplate it now, purely because it was surely more questionable. More – not necessarily remote, but debatable. The world had moved on, hadn’t it? Away from the patriarchy. Men were no longer allowed to abuse women, in any sense of the word. Of course, I couldn’t be sure. But as I went inside, I found myself thinking about what Helena had said: about what I knew from newspapers was called coercive control. She hadn’t said it, but that’s what she’d meant: there was a lot of it about.

I went to the kitchen for a glass of water and spotted my parents through the window over the sink. They were sitting outside in the sunshine, on a bench surrounded by budding cow parsley. Mum was wiping her nose and tucking a hanky up her sleeve. As we exchanged a wave, I thought about how I’d tell the court everything, if I had to. Spill the Michael beans. With my head held high. Keeping my voice steady. In my navy suit, with my cream shirt. The one with the scalloped edge. I knew I could do it.

26

The following morning, Helena rang. ‘All right?’ she demanded briskly.

‘Yes, fine, thanks. You?’

‘No, this isn’t a social call. I’m just ringing to check we didn’t leave you in a hole yesterday, but I’ve literally got two minutes.’

I smiled. I could feel her looking at her watch. Sensed she was in the office already, at ten to eight. I’d showered and dressed but that was as far as I’d got.

‘Yes, I’m really fine. But much better for seeing you two.’

‘Good.’ A pause. Unlike my sister in a hurry. ‘I forgot to ask if you’d seen Dan.’

I smiled again. Two smiles before eight, not bad. I saw what she was doing here. The world continues to turn. ‘I have, actually. Once or twice. He’s nice.’

I sensed her beaming on the other end. ‘Isn’t he?’ she purred.

‘But slightly over-attentive to his mother, apparently.’

‘Nance? Who told you that?’

‘Camilla Frobisher.’