Annie laughed. ‘The twins were adorable, Janet. You must be so proud of them.’

Janet nodded. ‘I am. And I intend to do everything I can to make sure they don’t turn out to be like their shitty excuse for a father.’

It was three years since Janet’s husband Edward had left her for another woman. Annie had seen her a couple of times since then and had talked to her frequently on the phone. In the beginning, Janet had found it hard to cope and had confessed to being lonely. But eventually she had started to embrace being single again.

She was a short, thin woman, with a placid face and neat, shoulder-length, fair hair, who worked as a carer for elderly people living in Kirkby Abbey and the surrounding villages.

Annie was about to ask her what time Edward was picking the twins up in the morning, but Janet spoke first.

‘Oh, bloody hell,’ she said. ‘Here comes trouble.’

She was staring at a man and woman who were walking towards them after exiting the hall. Annie recognised them immediately and felt a stab of apprehension.

Charlie and Sonia Jenkins ran The White Hart pub and they were by far the most striking couple in the village. She was slim and in her late thirties, but looked much younger. Her husband, who Annie herself had actually had a crush on in school, was a dead ringer for Michael Bublé. The pair had been together since Sonia fell pregnant with their daughter, Maddie, at the age of seventeen.

Sonia reached them first, and she had a face like thunder.

‘I want to ask you a question,’ she said, spitting her words at Janet and filling the air between them with the smell of alcohol.

Charlie quickly came up behind his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders.

‘I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t make a scene here,’ he said.

‘That was before I saw her looking at you in the hall,’ Sonia replied. ‘I could tell what she was thinking.’

‘Really?’ Janet said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Are you able to read minds when you’re drunk then?’

Sonia clenched her jaw. ‘How dare you say that? I’m not drunk.’

Janet tutted loudly. ‘You could have fooled me, Sonia.’

Annie could barely believe what was happening. The Christmas spirit that had prevailed only moments ago was shattered as the two women glared at one another.

Charlie put an arm around his wife and tried to move her away, but she refused to budge.

‘I’m not going anywhere until I’ve heard what she’s got to say for herself,’ Sonia said.

Janet responded by rolling her eyes. ‘Then get to the point, for pity’s sake. What is it you want to ask me?’

Annie was tempted to intervene, but didn’t dare for fear of inflaming the situation. Most of the other people in the room were still oblivious to what was going on and she didn’t want that to change.