She sighed, hung it back on the rack and continued her mission. Although she declared me impossible to please and looking for herself a waste of time as anything she tried would be too tight by the ball, we managed to find a couple of dresses each to take into the fitting rooms.

I immediately fell in love with a shimmery silver V-neck gown that pinched in at the waist and then rippled right down to the floor. Sequins and diamantes covered the bodice but grew sparser on the skirt until there was only a scattering around the hem. Although the back was bare, the V-neck lower than I’d usually be comfortable in, and the price higher than I’d been hoping to spend, I felt like I was wearing the twinkling night sky.

‘But is it a bit too much?’ I asked, twirling slowly in front of Hayley.

‘Not at all. It’s a ball. It’s supposed to be too much!’ She wolf-whistled loudly enough that everyone in the whole shop probably heard. ‘Dan is going to lose his shit when he sees you wearing it. He won’t be able to think of anything all night except taking it off.’

Her declaration sealed the deal. ‘I guess this is it then,’ I said with a grin.

‘Great choice.’ The sales lady smiled as I paid for my dress. ‘I’ve been eyeing this one myself.’

‘Come on. I’ll buy you an early lunch,’ Hayley said as I shoved my purse back into my handbag.

We’d barely left the counter when my phone started ringing.

‘Maybe it’s lover boy,’ she teased. I’d updated her on Dan’s family saga, and she was as intrigued about the whole mystery as I was.

‘Maybe.’ My heart skipping a beat, I scooped my mobile out of the bag, but my excitement vanished when I saw the number of Saxon’s high school on the screen.

A phone call from school rarely delivered good news. I thought of how pale Sax had looked that morning. What if it wasn’t down to a lack of sleep? What if he was actually sick and, too consumed with thoughts of Dan’s predicament, I hadn’t been on my mother game?

I swallowed and accepted the call. ‘Hello, Ashling speaking.’

‘Mrs Wood? This is Vera Diapolos, the principal at Perth Selective. I have to speak with you and your husband—’

‘Ex-husband,’ I corrected, the term now easily rolling off my tongue. ‘And I’m actually Ashling Murphy now.’

‘Ms Murphy,’ she said, her tone impatient. ‘I need you and your ex-husband to come into school as soon as possible.’

‘Has something happened?’

‘I’m afraid it has. Saxon was in an altercation with another student at recess.’

My heart leapt to my throat. ‘Oh my God. Is he okay?’

‘Apart from sore knuckles, Saxon is fine, however we cannot condone this type of behaviour.’