‘Jo’s in the bath,’ he explained, still breathless. ‘It’s just one of his toys dropping on the floor.’

‘I should go,’ she said, hastily fixing her clothes, her hair, then turning to take the laptop in its box.

Before opening the kitchen door for her, he kissed her again, a swift, searching kiss, and when he pulled away, his eyes were deep and serious. ‘I’ll call you,’ he said, and then she was outside in the driveway, holding the box tight against her chest, thoughts exploding in her head as she hurried back home, still thrilling to the realization of what she’d begun.

In the house, there was a stillness and a silence, the smell of fried onion and garlic in the air. She took a moment to compose herself, putting the laptop down and checking her reflection in the hall mirror. Satisfied there were no tell-tale signs of her recent dissipation, she went into the kitchen where the places were set, the food served out, but there was no one there. Instead, they were out in the garden – Abi and Mark standing opposite each other, Beth sitting on one of the sun-loungers. When Eva stepped outside and they all turned, grave looks on her parents’ faces, for an instant she had the frightening thought that they knew what she had just done. That somehow, they had witnessed the act of depravity she had just committed in the Campbells’ kitchen. Guiltily, she hung back, but then her father sighed and ran a hand through his hair and said:

‘Come here, Eva. You might as well hear about this too.’

‘What?’ she asked.

‘Valentina just rang,’ Abi began.

‘God, what’s happened now?’

‘Nothing, nothing,’ Abi soothed, but there was tension. ‘She’s having a hard time, that’s all. So is Corinne. Val’s asked us to help.’

‘Help? In what way?’

She looked from one parent to the other. Her father’s magnanimous expression, her mother’s optimism and eagerness to please fighting against a rising anxiety. Eva knew at once what this meant.

‘She’s not coming back here. Is she?’

‘Would it be so bad if she did?’ her father asked.

‘Yes!’

Abi put her arm around Eva, pulled her daughter close. ‘She needs our help, love,’ she said. ‘It will only be for a few weeks.’

Eva heard the reassurance in her mother’s voice, normally enough to silence her doubts, but still they crowded her. Her heart was knocking against her ribs and her palms started to sweat. She couldn’t account for the violence of her physical reaction, as if her own body was crying out a warning.