‘Hi, stranger,’ she said. ‘Long time, no see.’

‘Right.’

She patted the bed. ‘Take a seat.’

He stayed standing. He looked at her stomach. There were no signs of her pregnancy.

‘So,’ he said. ‘You’re pregnant.’

‘We’re pregnant.’

He ignored her clarification. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Sit down,’ she said. ‘You’re making me feel uncomfortable.’

He looked around for a chair. There had been one at her desk, but it was gone. He wondered whether she had removed it so he had nowhere to sit, but caught himself. It was probably just downstairs.

He sat next to her on the bed.

‘So. We’re going to be parents.’

‘If you have the baby. There’s still time to change your mind. We haven’t talked about it yet.’

She laughed. ‘You can’t understand,’ she said. ‘But I have no choice. I have to have this baby. It’s my child. I can’t do anything to hurt it.’

‘I understand. But for the record, do I get any say?’

She shook her head. ‘But I know you’re a good man, Matt. I know you’ll want to do the right thing for our baby, whatever you think just now.’

‘I will. I’ll do the best I can. But—’

‘I knew you would.’ She smiled. ‘I knew I could count on you. I knew you’d be ready to give it a try.’

He frowned. ‘Give what a try?’

‘Us. The baby.’

He got to his feet. ‘Lindsey. I don’t want to sound mean, but it’s over. There’s no us.’

‘There is, and there always will be. We’ve created this child together. That’ll never go away, and all I want is what’s best for the child. Don’t you want the same?’

‘Of course, but—’

‘What “but” can there be?’ she said. ‘We have to put the baby first. If it doesn’t work out, that’s fine. But we owe it to our child to give it a try. And I think we can do it, Matt. And a second ago you said you’ll do the best you can.’

That was not what he meant. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘I’m not ready for this.’

‘Matt. This is your child. You have to face up to your responsibilities.’

‘I’m at university.’

‘That’s fine. You can come back on the weekends. The baby’s due in late May, so you’ll be nearly done with the year by then. And we can move there together for your second year.’

She was smiling at him, her hands folded over her stomach. He wanted to run from the room and never come back.

‘I don’t think that’s going to work,’ he said.

‘We can give it a try! It’s only a bit of weekend travel!’

‘Not that,’ he said. ‘Me and you. We broke up. It was over.’