‘Well,’ Charlotte sighed heavily. ‘You might not blame me but I do blame myself for breaking up with Ben in the first place. I never stopped loving him, so I promise you, Jo, I am going to do everything I can to help put things right.’

Jo smiled and for the first time, Charlotte could see a spark of hope in her eyes.

Jo and Charlotte had prepared a huge pan of spaghetti bolognese and were halfway through a bottle of red wine, by the time the doorbell chimed, heralding Matt and Freya’s arrival.

‘I’ll go!’ Jo leaped off her stool and raced towards the front door.

Charlotte smiled to herself. Jo’s loneliness clung to her like a cloak of cobwebs and it was lovely to see her shaking them off, even for a short while.

‘Well, this is a sight for sore eyes!’ Matt came bustling into the kitchen, along with a sleeping Bertie in his car-seat and what seemed like dozens of bags stuffed with baby-themed paraphernalia. Freya followed behind him, beaming proudly.

Charlotte hugged them both tightly, before crouching down to look at Bertie. Even in the two weeks since she had last seen him, he seemed to have grown and his downy dark hair was becoming fairer and thicker. ‘Oh, I could eat him!’ she exclaimed, stroking his velvety cheek.

‘Yeah, I could too, I’m so bloody hungry!’ Matt laughed.

Jo walked over to the Aga, where she stirred the simmering sauce. ‘Good, because I am counting on you guys to eat me out of house and home this weekend. It’s been too long since I’ve had a houseful to feed and I’m going to make the most of it!’

Matt clapped his hands together. ‘Well, if you insist, Jo,’ he said, as they all burst out laughing.

‘So,’ Freya took a sip of her coffee and looked across the vast dining table at Jo. ‘Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. What’s going on with Ben, then?’

Jo’s expression, which had lightened from the moment they arrived, suddenly dropped again. She stirred her coffee in its china cup and pursed her lips in contemplation. ‘I’m not entirely sure …’

‘Tell them what you’ve told me, Jo,’ Charlotte prompted her gently.

Jo nodded. ‘I haven’t seen him since the funeral …’ she began.

‘What!’ Freya gasped and looked aghast at Matt. ‘Not at all?’

‘Not in person, no,’ Jo said quietly. ‘The only time I see him – and Elodie – is when he calls on FaceTime. And even then it’s always very rushed. Bella is never there, which makes me think he waits until she’s gone out before calling me. If I ever call him, he only answers when he’s alone. I think she screens his calls to stop him speaking to me.’

Matt and Freya exchanged a knowing look. ‘That sounds familiar,’ Freya muttered under her breath.

‘And how does he seem, in himself?’ Matt cut in.

Jo sighed. ‘Unhappy. Anxious. Scared.’

Matt shook his head in disgust. ‘Jesus.’