Emma raised a prettily arched eyebrow. ‘Who knows? I’m only his sister and we’re not as close as we were …’ She paused, her eyes momentarily drifting. ‘But he isn’t saying anything other than that he’s delighted. At the very least, he must be pretty shocked.’

‘Unless they planned it?’ Charlotte ventured. ‘He never made any secret of the fact that he wanted children …’ She tailed off, as she thought about the number of times she and Ben had discussed it. Maybe it was that that had spooked her enough to leave. It seemed so huge. And although she knew that she wanted kids one day, she still felt too young.

‘I don’t think they planned it.’ Emma shook her head vehemently. ‘Definitely not. They would only have been together for a week or so when she conceived – if that! – and although it’s true that Ben has always wanted children, he’s not the reckless type. He would have wanted to make sure they were ready before taking such a big step.’

Charlotte nodded. Emma was right. Ben wasn’t the reckless type. But he did seem to have fallen madly in love very quickly. Maybe it had clouded his judgement. ‘What’s she like?’

‘Bella?’ Emma raised her large blue eyes as she considered. ‘She’s sort of perfect.’

Charlotte felt a little spike of jealousy shoot through her.

‘She’s so good-looking, it makes me sick,’ Emma continued, seemingly unaware of the turmoil she was creating in Charlotte’s head. ‘And she’s certainly lifted him out of himself. He seems genuinely happy again. I was a bit worried about him for a while there …’

Charlotte shifted uncomfortably in her chair. ‘Well, that’s good. He deserves to be happy.’

Emma nodded fondly. ‘He does. He’s a good boy.’ Even though Ben was 30, she still referred to her younger brother as a boy. She fixed her wide blue eyes on Charlotte. ‘And how about you, Charlotte? How are you getting on?’

Charlotte smiled. ‘I’m OK. I’m starting to get myself together again – at last!’

‘Still living with Lucy?’

Charlotte nodded. ‘But I think I might have outstayed my welcome. Need to think about finding somewhere of my own.’

There was a pause, before Emma gave her a sly look. ‘And what about your love life?’

Charlotte felt her cheeks flush. ‘What love life?’ She tried to make the remark light-hearted but her voice cracked slightly as she spoke.

‘Oh.’ Emma looked down. ‘I thought you had met someone else. Ben certainly seemed to think so …’

‘He was wrong about that,’ Charlotte interrupted her. She paused, unsure how to articulate what she wanted to say. ‘I know he thought that maybe I had something with a guy from work but we’re just friends. I think it made it easier for him to think that … rather than that I just wanted some time on my own to work things out.’

Emma nodded. ‘Do you think …’ She hesitated, as if she sensed that she might be stepping over a line. ‘Do you think you would have gone back to Ben, once you’d had some time to yourself?’