Tom nods slowly. ‘I thought as much. People do know. Deep down, I mean. You like to please people and keep the peace, and that’s great, but sometimes you’ve got to follow your gut and stand on your own two feet. If you’d listened to yourself about Matt, yeah, things still wouldn’t have ended brilliantly, but you wouldn’t have got so close to the wedding and been so ruined by it all. You probably wouldn’t have wasted all that money either. But you wanted to listen to everyone else instead. You worried about what your parents would think, what other people wanted. You need to stop doing what other people think you should do and stand up for yourself.’

‘Maybe.’

‘There’s no maybe about it. Every time you’ve not followed your gut, something bad has happened and you’ve suffered for it, all because you chose to listen to others over yourself.’

I think about this for a moment, and realise he’s right. I worry too much about what other people think. But I’m not meant to be living my life for them; I’m meant to be living it for me.

‘Yeah. I know,’ I say. ‘You’re right.’

‘I usually am,’ he replies, with a cheeky grin on his face. He always knows just what to say to cheer me up, bring me back round and leave me feeling stronger.

‘Yeah, well you can bask in the glory, mister. I’m going to take this as my opportunity to live life for myself. Well, I’m going to have a bloody good go at it, anyway.’

‘That’s my girl,’ Tom says, winking.

‘And I think I know the perfect way to get that party started.’

They say that blood’s thicker than water, but that’s just not true. Toxic people are toxic people, regardless of who they shagged thirty-odd years earlier.

You can’t choose your family. And that’s why nobody needs them. In fact, they’re the least important people in your life purely because you didn’t choose them. They should have to work extra hard for your affections.

You’re better off without them. I should know — I’m just fine without mine. I never felt I needed them, and I didn’t feel bad once I was finally free of them. Why should I have? They were toxic. No-one regrets getting rid of poison.

I’m just glad you finally got to see what your family are like. A few drinks usually helps. In vino veritas, as the old saying goes. In wine there is truth. And gin. And whisky. Especially when they’re served in double — or even triple — measures.

I’m pleased I did my bit. I’m happy to have helped you see the light. You don’t need them. You never needed them, and you certainly don’t now I’m here.

I’m proud of your decision. I’m proud of you. Proud of us. From now on, it will always be us.

16

Thursday 26 December

Tom’s made me see a lot of things differently. For all his sweet remarks about how Dad probably didn’t mean to hit him, how everyone’s just been stressed recently and he’s sure it’ll all blow over sooner or later, there was one comment that really stood out. It was the mention of standing up on my own two feet and saying ‘sod it’ to everyone else.