She looks at me intently for a moment and I avert my eyes. No matter how kind Isobel is, I can’t risk telling her why I’m really here. It’s too dangerous.

‘I should go check on Joe,’ I say eventually, getting up from the table. ‘The car horn’s stopped.’

‘I’ve locked the doors,’ says Isobel, putting her hand into her pocket and pulling out her car keys. ‘Here, catch.’

She throws the keys. I reach out to catch them but they drop on to the stone floor with a clatter.

‘Oops,’ says Isobel as I stoop to pick them up. ‘I don’t know about tea, we need to get some coffee into you.’

I smile but inside I feel unsettled. I want to be alone so I can clear my head. If only I could get my strength back then I could think about what to do next.

I hear Isobel pour the tea as I go out into the hallway and open the front door. My head throbs as I step on to the uneven tarmac and I feel heavy and lethargic, the result of too much sleep. A shaft of sharp winter sun falls on to the car window. I squint as I approach, temporarily blinded by the light. It’s eerily quiet. No murmur from Joe as I point the key fob at the car and push the button. It unlocks with a click. I’m right next to the door but as I go to open it an old memory returns to me.

I’m putting Joe into his car seat in the back of the car. It’s a freezing-cold day and he’s wearing his snowsuit, which is so thick I’m finding it hard to secure the seat belt properly. When I finally get it closed I hear Mark’s voice behind me. ‘Are you sure you should be taking him to the pool in this weather, Lisa?’ I remember turning round and seeing his face, that familiar look of mistrust cast across it. I’d told him that the pool was heated, that it would be good for Joe to have a swim, though actually it was me who needed to get out of the house and lose myself in the water. ‘Are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?’ he’d said with a strange smile on his face. ‘Anything at all?’ I’d shaken my head, impatient with him now. I just wanted to get to the pool. Then he’d laughed and pulled my purse out of his pocket. ‘Wouldn’t get very far without this, would you? Honestly, Lisa, you’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on, wouldn’t you?’ He’d held my wrist then and I’d pulled away, grabbing my purse and putting it into my bag where I was sure it had been when I left the house. It seems in my haste to get away I must have left it behind. As I’d closed the door I could sense Mark putting another black mark next to my name, another reason why I needed him to keep me right.