‘It’s about a very ordinary person who has a vivid secret imaginary life as a hero. I often think Luke is like that. Normal life is somehow too mundane for him; he’s a reckless thrill seeker, the more dangerous the better. I guess infidelity is a part of that. If it’s any consolation, which I’m sure it isn’t, I’m genuinely sorry for you, Tilly. You seem like a nice person, and my son has evidently done a number on you. As for his father, he is in Australia, yes. But he didn’t walk out and abandon us. Although he and I were very happy to begin with, we began to realise as time went by that we wanted different things out of life, and separated amicably. He pays for the boys to fly out and visit him once a year, and he also comes back here from time to time. I really am sorry, Tilly.’

We sit there in silence for what feels like ages. I have a million questions running around in my head, but I can’t seem to form them into words. Richenda is also quiet, although it is her that breaks the silence first.

‘The thing I can’t work out is this,’ she says eventually. ‘The fallout from the Lucy business was catastrophic. How Cindy didn’t throw him out is anyone’s guess. She’s twice the woman I am, I think. But her conditions were that they moved away from temptation and, obviously, that he never did it again. Coming down here and having the baby was supposed to be a new start. So what the hell am I going to tell her?’

I don’t have the first idea. I’m still struggling to process the scale of his deception and the fact that he has a pregnant wife. The only thing I know right now is that I need to talk to Tash again. I can’t deal with this on my own.

14

I’m still feeling weak as I make my way back to the car. Meeting Richenda has totally knocked the stuffing out of me, and there’s a vicious whisper running round in my head as if on a loop. ‘You’re the other woman,’ it’s saying. ‘A homewrecker, an adulterer.’ The photo of Cindy and Luke in Richenda’s sitting room is swimming before my eyes. He has a wife. They’re expecting a baby. He’s been having sex with me. As if determined to wring every ounce of disgrace out of the situation, my brain also reminds me of my smug remark to Lena about how I’d never sleep with a married man, yet that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I feel like I’m going to be sick.