‘Thank you.’

He doesn’t say anything. There’s a beat.

‘Sorry, I should have offered you a drink,’ I continue awkwardly. ‘I’ve got wine, and I think there’s some beer in the fridge.’

‘Thanks, but no. I’ve decided to stay off it, after the other night. Stan doesn’t need a drunk for a father . . .’ He trails off. He doesn’t need to say any more.

‘You know, you don’t have to wait with me. It’s late. I’m sure you want to get home – see Stanley.’

‘He’ll be asleep in bed by now.’ Ben glances across at the rear of the houses whose long gardens back onto mine, then tuts. ‘At least he should be. I can see his light’s still on.’

‘Where?’ I ask, feeling curious. Until now I hadn’t realized I could see Ben’s house from mine.

He points beyond the line of silver birch trees at the bottom of the garden. High up, I see a small attic window and a tiny square of yellow light.

‘Who’s looking after him?’

‘Holly,’ he replies, then pauses. In the dusk I can’t see his expression. ‘Holly’s Stanley’s aunt. She’s Janet’s sister. Janet was my wife.’

I absorb his words for a moment. So that explains who the woman was that I talked to in their garden.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say simply. ‘I had no idea. I saw your wedding ring . . .’ I let my voice trail off into the shadows.

He doesn’t say anything. Why should he? He doesn’t need to explain to me.

‘For a long time, after Janet died, I couldn’t get my head around it.’

His voice is so low I have to strain to hear him.

‘How could she simply disappear from our lives like that and not come back?’ He breaks off and there’s a long pause. It’s a question to which there is no answer. ‘I kept thinking she was at work or seeing friends, and one day I’d walk into the kitchen and there she’d be. Just like with a sunset.’ He gestures at the sky. ‘The sun doesn’t stop existing because you can’t see it.’

We both watch as the last bit of sun finally disappears into the landscape.

‘But I don’t feel like that any more,’ he continues. ‘It’s been two years, and I know she’s not coming back. I still have conversations with her in my head, though. Mostly about Stanley, telling her about the things he’s been up to, or asking her advice. Janet always knew the right thing to do, whereas I feel like I’m playing catch-up all the time.’

Listening, I notice his left thumb instinctively go to his wedding band. He notices me noticing.

‘You know, there’s all these rules about when you should take off your wedding ring – people tell you to put it on your right hand, or wear it on a chain around your neck.’ He snorts at the idea, as if he finds it ridiculous. ‘But I don’t wear it because I still feel married. I wear it because sometimes, when I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing with Stanley, when I feel like I’m getting it all wrong, it reminds me that someone believed in me once to get it right.’