‘I believe,’ he said, raining butterfly kisses down her neck, ‘that you weren’t into me.’

‘My mistake,’ she said. ‘I wasted all those years.’ They didn’t speak Mark’s name. There was no need for him to be part of their narrative anymore.

‘We’re together now and that’s all that matters. We’re married and we’re happy.’

Vanessa went down to Wren’s room and knocked on the door. ‘Time for cake,’ she said as she heard rustling and laughter from inside the bedroom. Wren opened the door, and they all filed past her, smelling of rum. She hid her smile.

Olivia was waiting for him at the end of the hallway and he kissed her on the forehead. They were so sweet together. Billy put the cake on the table and rather than make him blow out a candle or sing ‘Happy Birthday’, they just gave him a round of applause as everyone hugged him.

Later that night when the party was winding down, Phillipa came to pick up Wade. She seemed out of it, and Vanessa asked if she was all right to drive.

‘Billy could drop you all off and you could come back for your car in the morning?’

‘It’s fine, I’m fine,’ she said.

As Wade walked past Wren, she heard the words ‘prescriptions meds’. Maybe Phillipa was high, all the more reason for her not to drive. But she refused Vanessa’s offer. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said thickly. Justin ended up staying the night because Joan never came to pick him up, even though Vanessa had left a message on her phone reminding her about the party.

Just before he went to bed, Wren came up to her and slid his arms around her. ‘You’re the best mom ever. I had a great time tonight. Thanks.’ He hugged her again, then walked down to his bedroom where Justin was probably already passed out.

The cleanup could wait till the morning. Vanessa had more important things to do. Smiling, she walked down the hallway to her and Billy’s bedroom.

Part II

15

Coming to a new school halfway through the year was always going to be painful. Her dad was the principal, which never helped her make friends. She was always the principal’s daughter no matter how hard she tried to overcome the stigma. Her dad traveled a lot for work, taking postings all over the country for long and short periods of time, which meant Oliva Holmes had attended more schools in her high-school life than she’d had hot dinners.

As soon as she started at Ashfield High School there had been problems, and Olivia found it worse at this school than any other. New blood to torment was her guess.