‘No. The twins are still at school and Dylan is at nursery for the afternoon. Bliss.’ Kim smiled as she reached for two large wine glasses that were on a shelf. ‘It’s too bloody hot to be indoors. Come on.’ Kim led the way into the garden and the women sat down at a table that was shaded with a large parasol.

‘How’ve you been, sweets?’ Shirley asked, unscrewing the cap on the warm bottle of white wine.

‘Yeah, not too bad. Difficult to do anything in this heat.’ Kim held out a glass.

‘It’s been a mental few days,’ Shirley said, pouring.

‘Yes.’ Kim looked as if she was about to say something, but changed her mind.

‘Have you got any plans for the summer?’

‘Pete wants us to get a villa in Spain. I said we should invite his mum to come so she can help look after the kids,’ Kim chuckled.

‘Good idea.’

‘What about you? Going anywhere?’

‘Maybe a few nights in Butlin’s, if I can get the time off work, and if we can afford it,’ Shirley replied.

‘That’ll be nice.’

The pair sat silently, sipping their wine. Kim didn’t think of herself as a snob, but she could tell if wine was cheap, and the bottle Shirley had provided certainly was. She put down her glass, not wanting to drink any more vinegar.

‘Awful what happened to Janet,’ she said, looking at Shirley and waiting for her reaction.

‘Yeah, I know. I can’t believe it.’

‘I know you were close.’

‘She was a good mate.’ Shirley nodded, looking down at the reflection in her glass. ‘I’ll miss her.’

‘And Toni,’ Kim paused, ‘it’s just unbelievable. I can’t get my head round it.’

Shirley nodded, and sipped her wine.

‘The police don’t seem to have a clue.’ Kim pulled her sunglasses down from her head and over her eyes.

‘Useless.’ Shirley curled her lip in disgust before draining her glass. ‘Have you spoken to the others much?’

‘You mean the book club girls? A bit. Have you heard about Johnny, Amy’s husband?’

‘No?’ Shirley put her glass on the table and raised her eyebrows.

‘He was in a car crash yesterday. He’s in hospital.’

‘How awful,’ Shirley said, but Kim thought she saw her disguising a smug grin.

‘He might not make it.’ Kim watched her closely from behind her sunglasses, but Shirley’s face had returned to normal and gave nothing away. Had she seen her smile? Suddenly Kim wasn’t so sure.

‘So,’ Shirley said, changing the subject, ‘you wanted to talk to me about something. Is everything alright?’

This was the moment Kim had been building up to but, now it had arrived, she felt herself freeze and her throat tightened. Could she really go through with it?

‘What is it?’ Shirley could see there was something very wrong.