“Luke, I think I’m losing her,” I say in a rush. “She never looks at me, she never talks to me….”

“Who, Suze?” Luke gives a little wince. “I’d noticed.”

“I can’t lose Suze.” My voice starts to wobble. “I can’t. She’s my three-A.M. friend!”

“Your what?” Luke looks puzzled.

“You know. The friend you could ring up at three A.M. if you were in trouble, and she’d come straightaway, no problem? Like, Janice is Mum’s three-A.M. friend; Gary’s your three-A.M. friend….”

“Right. I see what you mean.” Luke nods.

Gary is the most loyal guy in the world. And he adores Luke. He’d be there at three A.M. like a shot, and Luke would be there for him too. I always thought Suze and I would be like that forever.

“If I was in trouble at three A.M. right now, I’m not sure I could ring Suze.” I look miserably at Luke. “I think she’d tell me to go away.”

“That’s nonsense,” says Luke robustly. “Suze loves you as much as she ever did.”

“She doesn’t.” I shake my head. “I mean, I don’t blame her or anything; this whole thing’s all my fault….”

“No, it’s not,” says Luke, with a surprised laugh. “What are you talking about?”

I stare at him in bewilderment. How can he even ask that?

“Of course it is! If I’d gone to see Brent sooner, like I was meant to, we wouldn’t be here.”

“Becky, this is not all your fault,” Luke counters firmly. “You don’t know what would have happened if you’d gone to see Brent sooner. And by the way, both Tarquin and your father are grown men. You mustn’t blame yourself. OK?”

I can hear what he’s saying, but he’s wrong. He doesn’t understand.

“Well, anyway.” I give a gusty sigh. “Suze is only interested in Alicia.”

“You realize that Alicia’s trying to psych you out,” says Luke, and he sounds so sure that I lift my head in astonishment.

“Really?”

“It’s obvious. She talks a lot of shit, that girl. ‘Redactive’ isn’t a word.”

“Really?” I feel suddenly cheered. “I thought I was just being stupid.”

“Stupid? You’re never stupid.” Luke lets go of Minnie’s hand, pulls me close, and looks right into my eyes. “Abysmal at parking, maybe. But never stupid. Becky, don’t let that witch get to you.”

“You know what I think?” I lower my voice, even though no one’s in earshot. “She’s up to something. Alicia, I mean.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “But I’m going to find out.”

Luke raises his eyebrows. “All I’ll say is, watch your step. Suze is pretty sensitive at the moment.”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

Luke hugs me tight for a minute, and I let myself relax. I’m pretty exhausted, actually.

“Come on, let’s go in,” he says at last. “By the way, I think Janice was ripped off,” he adds as we head toward the building. “Those tablets? I looked at the active ingredient, and it’s aspirin in fancy Latin.”