Connie nodded, although she and Neil had eaten nothing. She knew she couldn’t swallow even one mouthful of soup.

‘You OK? You look as if you’ve been crying,’ Devan put down the wooden spoon and came over to her, his face full of concern.

‘Do I?’ she said, with false brightness. ‘It’s just the wind. Bloody Arctic out there.’

Devan put his arms around her. ‘You’re freezing,’ he said, rubbing his nose to her cheek. ‘Sit. I’ll make you a cup of tea.’

She sat down gratefully. Accepting the tea her husband made, she tried not to think that this might be the last cup he ever made her. The last time she would sit with him like this, while he crunched his toast and sipped his soup, the room warm and still in the early-afternoon light.

‘I thought I’d do steak and Caesar salad tonight,’ she said, knowing it was one of Devan’s favourite meals.

But he pulled a face. ‘That would have been great. But I’m meeting Jed. They’re showing Blade Runner, the Director’s Cut, at the film club and he got tickets. I know you hated it, so I told him not to get one for you.’

Connie was engulfed by a wave of despair. ‘Don’t go, Devan. Please … don’t go out this evening.’

Her husband looked taken aback. ‘I don’t understand. Why ever not?’

She quickly blinked tears away.

‘Is this about Jed again? I wish you’d tell me why you have such a thing about him.’

‘I just felt like a cosy evening with you, that’s all,’ she said tiredly, aware of her promise to herself that she would tell Devan. I should do it right now, she told herself, her gut seizing with dread. Get it over with. But she was utterly unable to form the words.

Devan was peering at her. ‘Am I missing something, Connie? You seem really upset. We can have steak and salad tomorrow, can’t we?’

She found a smile from somewhere. ‘Yeah, of course. Sorry. Don’t know what’s the matter with me at the moment.’

Still staring at her, Devan said, ‘I can cancel Jed if you want me to.’

‘No, no. I was just being silly. I know you love the film. It’ll be good to see it on the big screen again.’

‘If the projection works,’ he said. ‘Remember the last one we saw, when the whole thing was out of sync?’

She laughed. ‘I think that was just the equipment objecting to having to run such an irritating film.’

Jared knocked on the door at six that evening. Devan was still in the shower, so Connie was forced to let him in.

‘Hey,’ he said softly, reaching to kiss her cheek.

But she stepped away, walked off into the kitchen. He followed.