She gets up carefully and wraps herself in a robe, before creeping out of the door and down to the bathroom, where she splashes herself repeatedly with cold water to wash away the memories.

They’d gone back to Luke’s house after school and Luke’s dog had stared at her again.

‘Wolfie, what’s the matter, mate? You’ve met Lizzie before. She’s a friend.’ Luke had bent down to stroke his ears. ‘He’s never been like this with anyone before.’ He started patting his dog, like it was a baby who needed winding, and added, ‘I think he’s jealous of you!’

Luke had laughed and told Wolfie what a handsome, special dog he was in a sing-song voice. Wolfie’s tail had wagged on autopilot, but his eyes remained wide and locked on Lizzie.

He knows who I am, Lizzie realized. The woman who didn’t give him any sausage. The woman who only thought about herself and smelt like a dog who’d rolled in dead fish to cover its scent. There was no jealousy here.

Luke had sent Wolfie outside with a bone and ‘Here you are, champ,’ and Wolfie had gone, snaking his long, bristly fur past Lizzie’s legs, leaving goose bumps.

Luke had cooked them dinner. Carbs and chicken and far too much. It had sat in her stomach and weighed her down. She liked to pick and graze. A handful of nuts here, a raw carrot there. Maybe the dregs of Lenny’s cereal if he didn’t want it. ‘Brown pasta helps lower cholesterol, even though it actually has more calories than white,’ Lizzie had said, making a volcano of her leftovers.

‘Don’t play with your food,’ Lenny said smartly, and Luke laughed. ‘Brown stuff doesn’t taste as nice.’

‘No, but your body needs more than just empty calories.’

‘We know, Mum,’ Lenny said, then rolled his eyes at Luke. ‘She’s obsessed with brown. Brown bread, brown rice, brown pasta—’

‘Brown-ie for dessert?’ Luke interrupted, and Lenny grinned and offered him a high-five.

While she was washing up, Luke had tossed a box to Lenny. She’d watched from the sink as Lenny opened it and pulled out a pair of football boots. She didn’t know which make they were, but she knew from Lenny’s face that they were good. The ones he wanted, the ones she couldn’t afford. Lenny had jumped up to throw his arms around Luke, who sounded slightly choked up when he told Lenny how welcome he was and he should try them on to make sure they fitted. Lenny went one better and demanded to go outside into the garden to practise his kicking. It was dark, but the garden was tiny and the light from the kitchen glowed brightly enough to allow him to see the ball.