‘Sorry, I didn’t see where you went.’ They buy muffins and drinks at the cafe and sit at a table near the area reserved for parties, where Jamie is eating his lunch. A woman comes out with a huge cake and the children sing ‘Happy Birthday’. Some of the parents arrive but there’s no sign of Alison. The birthday boy hands out party bags to the children leaving. Jamie is still sitting down drinking and eating his slice of cake. Perhaps Alison has been held up in traffic?

Before long there are only three children left waiting for their parents. The birthday boy is already opening his presents from the enormous stack on the table, while his last guests look on. One of the teenagers who works there is going around the tables with a black bag, clearing away all the paper plates of uneaten food and drink. The mum is holding a list while speaking on her mobile. Maddy hears her say to a ginger-haired boy that his dad is on his way.

‘It’s your mum picking you up, isn’t it?’ she says to Jamie. He nods but doesn’t seem worried, as though he’s used to being abandoned.

‘Come with me,’ Maddy says to Emily when she’s finished her juice. She takes her hand and practically drags her over to the sectioned-off area. Jamie is sitting on his own now. ‘He can come with me.’ She touches his shoulder with her fingertips.

The mum looks up at her, then at Emily.

‘I know where he lives. Alison is probably stuck in traffic and can’t answer her phone.’

‘She didn’t mention anyone else picking him up, I can’t just…’

‘She knows my dad.’ Jamie shrugs.

‘And you are?’ The woman is staring at Maddy as though she’s a serial killer.

‘Family friend. Don’t worry, though, if it’s a problem.’ Maddy casually flicks her hand. She gives Jamie a sorry look and turns to leave. What on earth is she doing? Where would she have taken him? She squeezes Emily’s hand and tries to blink away dark blotches in front of her eyes.

Alison is marching towards her. She turns away just in time.

‘So sorry I’m late,’ Alison says loudly, waving as she pushes past Maddy, thankfully not noticing her, and Maddy doesn’t stop to look back.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Max: March 2017

Max could hear Maddy upstairs reading to the girls when he came in.

‘Daddy!’ Chloe ran along the landing to greet him.

He picked her up and gave her a hug.

‘Mummy’s reading Alice,’ Chloe told him.

‘Alice in Wonderland?’

‘Wonderful land.’ She giggled.

He put her down and she took his hand, pulling him into Emily’s bedroom, where Maddy was sitting at the end of the bed holding the illustrated hardback from her own childhood.

‘You’re early,’ she said. He bent down and kissed her cheek.