Jo stopped her bustling and turned to look at Charlotte. ‘Well, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. And there’s not too long to go now – hopefully!’

‘No, thank God!’ Charlotte agreed, cradling her enormous bump. She turned to look out over the terrace where everyone was still gathered, the adults chatting and the children laughing at some secret, shared joke. ‘Emma next, I hope.’

‘Yes.’ Jo followed Charlotte’s gaze to where Emma and her husband, Prash, were sitting. ‘It would be lovely. Though I think they’re still enjoying the novelty of being married and she’s always known it might be more difficult because of her history. And her age, of course.’

Charlotte nodded. ‘And what about you, Jo? How are you bearing up? Days like today must be hard, when everyone’s here, and yet …’

‘… Not everyone’s here,’ Jo finished the sentence for her. She placed the drinks she had prepared onto a large wooden tray, before lifting her eyes to meet Charlotte’s. ‘I have good days and bad, but mainly good now.’ She chose her words carefully. ‘And days like today actually help enormously. Having a full house, like we used to.’ Her eyes misted slightly as she dipped back into her memories, before snapping back into the moment with a smile. ‘Children laughing and everyone having fun … it means the world.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘Peter would have loved it.’ Her voice caught slightly and she cleared her throat. ‘But, do you know what, Charlie? I think he’d be proud of me. For carrying on. Because I don’t mind admitting that there were times when I didn’t think I could.’

Charlotte nodded. ‘I know. And you’re right, he would be proud of you. As proud as we all are of the way you’ve coped,’ she added.

Charlotte still had mixed feelings whenever she thought about Peter. She had loved him like a father and after her own dad died suddenly, she had grown even closer to him. But that was before she knew the truth about what he’d done. And now, even when she remembered the many good things about him, it was always tainted with the knowledge that he could have saved Ben from Bella, if he had just had the courage to admit his mistake and deal with it.

Jo would have forgiven him. Yes, she would have been hurt and angry, but she loved him too deeply to have let him go. She would probably even have accepted Elodie being part of Peter’s life if she had had to. The way she had welcomed the little girl into her home and her life over the past couple of years was proof of that.

Charlotte tried hard not to let the memories of that terrible night encroach on her brain, but it was impossible to banish the images that played like an old film on a loop.

More than the images, though, it was the guilt she felt at having agreed to take Elodie while Ben ‘sorted things out’ with Bella that haunted her. If she had refused, as every bit of her instinct told her to do; if she had insisted that Ben leave with her and Elodie, none of it would have happened.