Oh, now he mentions the kids. Now that he’s about to walk out the door, he finally thinks about the kids, Robyn fumed. How dare he treat them – and her – like non-priorities? How dare he? ‘I can’t listen to this any longer,’ she said shakily. ‘You go and live out your deluded little fantasy in Edinburgh, if you must. But do me a favour and don’t bother crawling back here when it all ends in tears.’ She stared at him, hating him, but still desperately hoping that he would change his mind.

He didn’t, though. He merely gave her a sorrowful look, raised his hands in an All right – calm down! sort of gesture and walked out of the room. Then, as she sat there, dumbfounded, she heard the front door close and she knew that he’d walked out of the house, too.

He’d come back, Robyn said fiercely to herself as his car started up outside. Of course he would. This was his home, this was his family, this was where he belonged!

Her heart started banging as panic set in. But what if he didn’t? she thought fearfully. What if he didn’t come back, what if he genuinely meant all those crazy things he’d said and their marriage was over? Her breath rasped shallow and fast, her head began to ache with all the terrible questions that were swirling there. Was it really the end? How was she going to explain this to the children? How ever would she cope?

Mum, what would you do? Frankie thought that evening, washing up the dinner things as a quiet, anxious mood settled upon her. She and Craig had been to see their solicitor today, who had strongly advised mediation as a first step, but Craig seemed adamant that he wouldn’t go along with anything Julia wanted, claiming that he’d rather go straight to court to settle the issue. Frankie, who disagreed with him, had been left feeling helpless, as if her opinion counted for nothing.

Her mum had always been so brilliant at talking through a thorny problem, she remembered with a pang: listening carefully and weighing up the balance, before offering practical suggestions and advice. Sure, Frankie had friends she could talk to about the Julia situation, but they were Craig’s friends too, and it would have felt disloyal, confessing her private thoughts to them. She had her stepdad, Gareth, but he was living out his retirement in Spain and always seemed to be in some bar or other when she called, the sports channel blaring in the background. Plus, his advice tended to be ‘Chin up, love, it’ll be all right’, which, although cheering, wasn’t exactly specific.