He was so engrossed in his conversation that he didn’t see me at first but when he finally glanced up and spotted me, he froze in shock. After a moment, he hung up his phone and walked stiffly towards the kitchen door, looking like a lamb to the slaughter.

He took as long as possible closing and locking the door behind him, before trudging towards the table, where he slumped down with a weary sigh. I remained standing. ‘So?’ I tilted my head expectantly.

Ben closed his eyes for a second before looking up to meet mine. He took a deep breath. ‘Look, Charlie just turned up here this morning … I didn’t invite her.’

I smiled incredulously. ‘Really? You expect me to believe that you haven’t seen her or spoken to her since the funeral and yet she appears one morning, as if by magic, in our house?’

‘She wasn’t in our house.’ Ben sighed and ran his hands through his hair in a way that reminded me of Peter. ‘She was waiting in her car outside and I spotted her as we went to the park.’

‘So, she’s stalking you? God, what a pathetic cow.’ I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my voice. I was tempted to tell him that she was welcome to him, if I wasn’t so reliant on him myself.

Ben flushed and I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. ‘No! She … well, she’d been asked by mum.’ He paused and dropped his eyes briefly, before looking up again. ‘And Matt and Freya …’

I tutted and screwed up my face in disgust. Why couldn’t they just back off and let us get on with our lives?

Ben swallowed. ‘To make sure that I was OK. They were worried about me, apparently.’

‘Jesus, you’re not 4 years old! Why can’t they just mind their own bloody business and leave us alone!’

Ben half-nodded. ‘Well, I told her I was fine and she left. I don’t think she’ll be visiting again anytime soon.’

I frowned. ‘But Elodie saw her, so she must have come to the park with you?’

‘Yes, but I figured you’d probably prefer that to me inviting her in here!’

‘You could have told her to fuck off home! I’d have preferred that most of all!’

Ben shook his head. ‘Yes, because that would have gone down well with my mum, wouldn’t it?’

‘Who cares what your mum thinks? I certainly don’t.’

Ben’s eyes filled with tears, making me grit my teeth with annoyance. ‘Actually, I care, Bella. I miss her. I’d like to see her. And take Elodie to visit her.’ I could tell that he was summoning up all the courage he could muster and he was becoming more emboldened with each word.

‘No!’ I fixed him with what I hoped was my sternest expression. ‘We don’t need anyone else, Ben. It’s better when it’s just the three of us.’

He gave a small, mirthless laugh. ‘It’s not just the three of us, though, is it? There’s four of us, if you include your lover …’