‘Oh, thank God!’ Relief made Ben feel momentarily light-headed. He was glad he was sitting down. ‘I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you, darling.’ He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her towards him.

Bella gave him a watery smile. ‘It’s OK. Luckily Marcus was there, so he took care of me. Don’t feel bad.’

OK, Ben thought, so she was definitely punishing him. But then again, he reasoned, he probably deserved it. ‘Well, let me look after you now,’ he said, bending down to take off her shoes. ‘From now on, I’m not leaving your side.’

Bella allowed herself to be gently laid down on the bed and smiled up at him. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, as Ben tried to ignore the slightly triumphant gleam in her eyes. It occurred to him that she had just won a battle that he wasn’t even aware he had been fighting.

Chapter Six

Ben and Bella pulled onto the gravel driveway, Ben’s Mercedes sighing to a halt, as if it had run out of breath. They didn’t get out of the car immediately, but seemed to be having a terse conversation, both their faces set rigid as they stared straight ahead.

Jo felt a prickle of unease, as she watched them from the doorway. She had had a strange feeling of foreboding since she woke up this morning and couldn’t put her finger on why.

She hoped she was imagining it, but Ben’s body language seemed different, as he finally got out of the car and opened Bella’s door, before helping her out.

Jo plastered a smile on her face as she swung open the door and waved. ‘Hello, you two! Happy Christmas!’

Ben grinned as they reached her and he bent down to kiss her on the cheek. ‘Hi, Mum, happy Christmas.’

‘And look at you!’ Jo beamed, motioning to Bella’s rounded stomach. ‘You’re cooking nicely.’

Bella’s face hardened as she offered her cold cheek to accept a kiss from Jo. ‘You make me sound like a bloody turkey!’

Jo looked at her in surprise. ‘Oh! Well you’re certainly the most glamorous turkey I’ve ever seen.’

There was an awkward pause as both Jo and Ben watched Bella to see if she would accept the compliment. ‘Right,’ she said eventually. ‘Are we standing out here all day or are we allowed to come in?’

Jo’s unease deepened. Why was Bella being so bloody prickly? She decided to blame the pregnancy hormones and gave what she knew was a fake laugh. ‘Of course! Come on through. Peter’s in the kitchen.’

Ben took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack in the hallway, before turning towards Bella and reaching out to take her coat. ‘Leave it!’ she snapped, slapping his hand away. ‘I’m cold.’ Jo caught Ben’s eye for a split second. There was a look of resignation there that she didn’t like one bit.

‘Look who’s here!’ she said brightly, as they reached the kitchen, where Peter was busy stirring his mulled wine on the Aga. He made it every year at Christmas and every year they all pretended to like it. The time had long since passed when they could tell him they all thought it was disgusting. At least the home-made mince pies went some way towards taking the taste away.