I couldn’t help smiling. ‘Yes. She certainly is. Well, you might be seeing a bit more of her soon anyway.’

Peter’s own smile died on his lips and his eyes narrowed slightly. He was always so suspicious around me, albeit with good reason. ‘And why’s that?’

I shrugged. ‘I’d like Elodie to have the sort of childhood your other children had. So I think maybe we should buy a house similar to yours in Suffolk and move there.’

Peter blanched. ‘Close to us, you mean?’

‘Yes. Then you could get to see Elodie whenever you wanted.’

I could see the internal battle as his thoughts raced. ‘But how could you ever afford a house near us?’

I wanted to laugh at his naivety. ‘We couldn’t. But you could.’

As understanding dawned, his expression darkened. ‘You want me to buy you a house?’

‘Well, you bought your other children a house, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t buy Elodie one.’ I adopted my most annoying sing-song tone, knowing it would irritate him further.

‘Ben wouldn’t accept it,’ Peter said at last. ‘I know what he’s like and he’d be too proud. It was different when he was young, just getting started, but now that he’s a husband and father …’

I fixed him with my steeliest stare. ‘Then it’s your job to make him accept it.’

Peter ran his hand through his hair, looking panicked. ‘And if I don’t succeed?’

I smiled. ‘I don’t think I need to answer that one, do I, Peter?’

Chapter Twenty-Four

He had told me. Of course he had. But I pretended that he hadn’t. ‘What the hell did you invite them round for?’ I yelled at his retreating back, as he walked out of the bedroom, having reminded me that Matt and Freya would be arriving in about half an hour for a final, goodbye get-together. When I saw the alert pop up on his phone calendar earlier, I had deliberately gone back to bed, claiming that I didn’t feel well.

Ben stopped walking and sighed heavily, his shoulders dropping before he turned back to face me. ‘Because they’re my friends, Bella. Our friends. That’s what friends do – they spend time together.’

‘They’re not my bloody friends!’ I spat. ‘Well, anyway, I don’t feel well so they will have to come another time. Or not at all, preferably.’

Ben closed his eyes in that way that really wound me up. As if he was trying desperately hard to keep his temper. ‘No, Bella, it’s too late to cancel them now. They’ll already be on their way.’

‘Well, call Matt on his mobile and tell him your wife is sick and you are going to do the right thing and look after her, rather than getting pissed with those two arseholes.’

‘Bella!’ Ben looked genuinely enraged and I wondered if I might have gone too far. ‘They are not arseholes. Matt has been my friend since I was seven and Freya is lovely.’

I pulled a face. ‘Ugh. You’re not twelve, Ben!’