‘Yes, toilet paper, and all the other things you haven’t kept stocked up.’ Last night I’d checked all the cupboards and made a list of all the things we’d almost run out of. ‘But that’s not important right now; I’m worried about the kids. I’ll admit they seem to be coping emotionally better than I expected, but deep down they’re probably confused about what’s going on.’ Lord knew I was confused enough myself. ‘The marriage counsellor I saw a couple of weeks ago—’

Adrian shook his head. ‘I still don’t understand why you saw a marriage counsellor on your own.’

‘I’m trying to make sense of what’s going on. You won’t talk to me about us, so I reached out to a professional. Anyway, she reminded me that communication is the key in marriages and in families. You might want out of our relationship,’ my voice cracked a little, ‘but we’re still a family. We still have children together and we need to make sure we’re on the same page about them.’

‘Aren’t we?’

‘I hope so, but Payton has been acting a little too big for her boots around me. Not sure if she’s backchatting and making snarky remarks to you as well, but we really need to nip this sort of behaviour in the bud. I’ve banned her from screens this weekend because of a few things she said to me last night, and I’d like you to make sure she doesn’t get away with rudeness as well.’

‘I have noticed her being a little more defiant than usual,’ said Adrian. ‘She pushed back on bedtime a few nights last week and I caught her playing a game on her iPad on a school night. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me you let her play games if she’s finished all her homework.’

‘And that there is a total lie and you know it.’ I dug my nails into my palms, fighting the impulse to rage at Adrian that this was all his fault. Our children were fine until he left! ‘But it’s not unusual behaviour for kids of separated parents; they soon learn to play one off against the other—I should know. So we need to be aware, but also stand together where they’re concerned. Payton says you let her eat whatever she wants after school. One thing can’t be acceptable for one of us and not the other.’

‘Okay.’ His shoulders slackened as he uncrossed his arms. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘If you’ve ever got any doubts or questions, just call me,’ I said, hoping he’d take me up on this. Somehow, we needed to get talking again.

He nodded, picked up half a BLT and took a bite. Progress—he’d actually apologised and at least we weren’t staring daggers at each other now.