‘I think Will’s done enough with you for one day,’ Tash adds, evidently picking up on the suddenly strange atmosphere. ‘Maybe he’ll come again another time. Would you like that?’

This seems to do the trick, as Isaac nods his assent.

‘That’s settled then. We’ll ask Auntie Tilly to bring him round again very soon.’

Thankfully, we manage to escape without Isaac crying, although I did notice a bit of a lip quiver as he said goodbye to his new hero.

‘You’ve got a friend for life there,’ I joke, trying to lighten the mood as I turn the car towards Paddock Wood.

‘It was a fun day,’ Will replies softly. ‘Thank you for inviting me.’

Silence falls, but it’s not comfortable and, after a while, I feel compelled to speak.

‘Tell me to mind my own business,’ I start. ‘But you seemed a little out of sorts at the end.’

‘I was just tired, that’s all. Isaac is lovely, but they’re intense at that age, aren’t they?’

I glance at him, but his face is impossible to read in the darkness. What he’s said makes sense; I’m definitely tired, and I didn’t even do the lion’s share of entertaining Isaac, but something about Will’s answer isn’t ringing true and, for the first time, I don’t feel completely at ease with him. I realise that, although Will and I have spent hours in each other’s company, chatting freely, it’s all been superficial. I don’t know that much about him at all, especially this vulnerability that Jonathan warned me about. There’s definitely something there and, after my experiences with Luke, there’s no way I’m getting any closer to Will if he’s keeping things back from me. A horrible thought swims into my mind. Maybe Will does have a child but he doesn’t have access for some reason, which is why he got upset when Isaac asked him to do something that a parent would normally do.

Thankfully, I’m able to dismiss that idea fairly swiftly. There’s no way Will would have been able to do all the things he did with Isaac today if he was dealing with something like that, unless he was a sociopath. I’m certain that’s not the case, but something is definitely up. Maybe I should do a bit of gentle probing after all.

25

‘Natasha tells me you have a new young man in tow,’ Mum says down the phone. ‘When are we going to meet him?’

‘He’s not “in tow”, Mum. We’re just friends.’

‘That’s what she said you’d say, but I have a mother’s instinct for these things.’

‘I’m not sure that’s a thing.’