Ben thought, but didn’t say, that Freya had been remarkably restrained by her standards. He wanted to go after them both, to apologize and to explain that seeing them just wasn’t worth the hassle, nagging and upset that would result.

Before they arrived, Bella had thrown an enormous tantrum, screaming and crying that she was feeling ill and as usual, he was putting his mates before her and Elodie. No amount of reassurance and cajoling on his part could calm her down, as he kept one eye on the clock, knowing that they would be arriving any second and one eye on his hysterical wife. In the end he was left with no choice but to promise her that he would send them away, even though it had felt like a dagger through his heart to do it. He loved Matt. And he loved Freya, too. But Bella was determined that there wasn’t room in his life for both them and her.

He ran his hand over his face. ‘Well, they’ve gone now, so you can go back to bed and sleep off whatever lurgy you’ve picked up.’

Bella brightened instantly, all signs of her earlier tears and trauma now evaporated. ‘No, it’s fine,’ she beamed. ‘I feel much better now.’

The landline phone was ringing as Ben walked into the kitchen. Bella was sitting at the table, tapping on her mobile phone, while Elodie lay on the wooden floor in her baby gym, gurgling happily and grabbing at the various rattles and mirrors dangling above her.

‘Why are you ignoring the phone, darling?’ he said, as he snatched up the handset. He could see from the caller display that it was his mother calling. Bella gave a tiny smile but didn’t reply. Ben sighed and pressed the ‘answer’ key. ‘Hi, Mum, how are you?’

Jo’s voice sounded muffled. ‘Hi, sweetheart, I’m sorry to call you …’

‘Don’t be daft,’ Ben frowned, sensing something bad was coming. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘No …’ There was a pause as Jo gulped back a sob. ‘Ben, I’m at the hospital. Your dad’s had a heart attack.’

Ben’s legs went weak and buckled under him. Sitting down abruptly on a kitchen chair, he tried to compute what Jo was saying. ‘A heart attack?’

‘Yes.’ He heard Jo blow her nose on the other end of the line.

‘Oh my God. How serious?’ Ben stole a glance at Bella, who was watching him with an intense frown.

Jo burst into another bout of tears. ‘I don’t know but I think it might be really bad! Oh Ben, what the hell am I going to do?’

Ben swallowed back his own tears and sat up a bit straighter. This was not the time for him to crumple. He needed to be there for his mum. ‘Right, don’t worry, I will be there as soon as I can. Which hospital?’

‘Ipswich.’

‘OK. Get yourself a coffee and I’ll be there in a couple of hours. Does Emma know?’