Hailey commented on it when she called in at the community centre one lunchtime, the first time Sara had seen her since she’d come round for coffee a couple of weeks ago.

‘Sorry I haven’t been in touch, but work’s been mad,’ she said, handing Sara a ham salad baguette she’d picked up for her on the way over. ‘And then I was at football practice with one of my service users last night, and I saw Matt with the girls and realised how long it’s been.’

‘Well, I know you’ve got a lot on.’ Sara put her baguette on the desk, aware of the elephant in the room, the real reason why her sister hadn’t been in touch. ‘Look, I just wanted to apologise for asking you for money.’ Her cheeks burned with the shame of it. ‘I shouldn’t have done it. Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking.’

Hailey wafted her concerns away with a flap of her hand. ‘Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s all cool between us now.’ She grinned. ‘Let’s just forget about it.’

Sara took a bite of her lunch, thankful that the awkwardness between them had been dealt with. She’d been avoiding Hailey, too embarrassed to call, not sure what sort of response she’d get.

‘Matt was telling me he’s really getting stuck into setting up his business. Honestly, he’s puffed up like the cock of the rock, isn’t he? I’ve never seen him looking so pleased with himself.’

Sara laughed and almost choked on her food. Her sister came out with some weird sayings, and she had a habit of chucking them into conversations like little grenades, guaranteed to get people laughing.

Hailey licked mayo off her fingers, her baguette leaking drips of it onto her lap, which was thankfully covered with the paper bag she’d brought them in. ‘You managed to rustle up the money from somewhere, then, without Matt finding out?’

Sara bit into her sandwich and nodded while she chewed, giving herself a chance to come up with something feasible. She swallowed, eyes on her food. ‘Yeah. We’ve got it sorted. His dad…’ She took another big bite, no intention of elaborating any further. Hailey could come to her own conclusions, and really, it was none of her business. Anyway, Sara couldn’t tell her the truth. That she was a thief. A chill ran through her at the very thought.

Not a thief, she corrected herself. I didn’t steal. It’s a loan and I’m going to pay it back. Matt had said he’d return the money to the savings account when he got paid from this big contract he’d been talking about, so it wouldn’t be long before she could put everything right.