As I told them about the weekend, their expressions morphed from interest into angry concern. Mel, the easygoing woman from Byron Bay, seemed the most shocked by what had happened. Surely she’d wandered along the beach by herself as a teenager; besides, Marty and I already felt so guilty, her disapproval couldn’t make me feel worse.

Imogen saved me by asking Mel about Father’s Day.

‘Is Father’s Day hard for Sammy? His dad never calls, does he?’

‘Nope.’ Mel shook her head. ‘But that’s okay—we’re happy without him. We had Father’s Day with my aunt.’

‘Do you know where he is?’

‘Out of sight and out of mind.’

I noticed that Mel never mentioned her ex by name. Sammy didn’t talk about him either.

‘Does he send child support money?’ Tara asked.

‘No, and I wouldn’t take it from him.’ Mel pursed her lips.

‘Talking of exes,’ Tara turned to me, ‘how do you get on with Marty’s ex-wife? Is she a bitch?’

‘She’s okay. They broke up long before I came on the scene.’

‘If Marty’s the perfect husband, you should send her a thank you letter,’ Tara joked. ‘She trained him up for you.’

For God’s sake, he hadn’t needed training. He was a paediatrician. He knew how to look after children and how to operate complex medical equipment; by comparison, kitchen appliances were simple. And he’d had to get us through those years when I’d been in a black hole.

‘Lucas really wants another baby,’ Imogen announced to the table. ‘He’s desperate for a girl. But I can’t do it. The twins are such a handful and he’ll be deployed again next year.’

‘There’s no rush for you,’ Julia said. ‘You’ve only just turned thirty-two—you can wait a few years until the boys are at school.’

‘He wants our family to be young together,’ Imogen explained. ‘He wants us to have a baby right now. I don’t know what to do.’

Julia put an arm around Imogen and gave her a squeeze. We all looked at her sympathetically. For once, none of us had any advice to offer.

‘What about you?’ Tara pointed her gold fork at me. ‘Does the hottie hubby want another one?’