She stared at the empty pan guiltily. But, she reassured herself, it was about time someone told Peter the truth about what they all thought of his horrible yearly concoction. She wished Emma would get here. She needed an ally, someone to tell her whether she was imagining Bella’s offhand behaviour.

As if on cue, her mobile rang. She snatched it up as she saw Emma’s name flashing on the screen. ‘Hi, darling, where are you?’

‘Mum!’ Emma sobbed. ‘I’ve had an accident. I hit a patch of ice on a bend and I’ve spun off the road.’ Her voice was audibly shaking.

‘Oh my God! Are you OK? Are you hurt?’ Jo’s legs suddenly felt weak.

‘Bit of a bump on the head. And my neck is killing me. But I think I’m OK.’ Jo could hear her holding the phone away from her body as she examined herself.

Jo swallowed down the tide of panic that was rising up inside her and tried to keep her voice steady and calm. ‘Right. Daddy and I are coming to get you. Where are you?’

Emma began to cry, causing Jo’s heart to constrict. Emma rarely cried. She was so composed and she always seemed to be in control of her emotions. Hearing her lose it completely told Jo that they needed to get to her as quickly as possible. ‘I’m at the corner of Bramble Lane and Mill Road, near the pub,’ Emma managed, through giant, gulping sobs.

‘We’ll be with you in ten minutes. Just stay where you are.’

Jo dashed into the sitting room, where Peter, Ben and Bella were still chatting, seemingly unaware of her absence. They all looked up at her in surprise as she entered. ‘Emma’s had an accident. We need to go and get her.’

Peter and Ben both leaped out of their seats. ‘Shit! Is she OK?’ Ben’s face creased with concern and Jo could see that he was genuinely worried for his sister. It gave her a small crumb of comfort to see a glimpse of the old Ben.

‘She’s very shaken and upset and I think she’s bumped her head but she was talking coherently, so hopefully she’s fine. Come on, Peter, we need to hurry.’ She gestured towards the door expectantly.

Peter nodded quickly and strode past her, already scooping his car keys from the glass bowl on the console table in the hallway.

‘I’ll come!’ Ben followed Peter towards the door.

‘No, Ben!’ Bella shouted suddenly, causing all of them to stop in their tracks. ‘You can’t go.’

Ben scowled irritably. ‘What? I need to go with them in case Dad and I have to pull the car out of a ditch or something.’

Bella’s face darkened. ‘You can’t leave me here on my own!’

Jo felt a sudden urge to slap her daughter-in-law’s pretty face. ‘Come. Don’t come,’ she snapped at Ben. ‘But make your bloody mind up because we need to get to Emma.’

Ben hesitated and Jo could see the dilemma he faced. If he came with them, Bella would be furious with him. If he didn’t come, he would be furious with himself. ‘Sorry,’ he said to Bella, seemingly having made up his mind. ‘I’ll only be a few minutes. You’ll be fine.’