‘That night, Hattie got drunk, and I mean drunk like I’d never seen from her before. She rolled in and literally collapsed in bed. We were all staying at her parents’ house but that night I took Megan to the spare room so we didn’t disturb Hattie. In the morning, Hattie’s mum was cursing her for being late getting up, and I had to go to work, but I was hanging on just to give Hattie another five minutes, as I knew she would have the hangover from hell, and looking after a two-year-old all day wasn’t going to be any fun.’

Roman squeezed his eyes shut. ‘I was changing Megan when I heard her mum scream. I’ll never ever forget that moment. I walked into the room…’ The tears were freefalling down Roman’s face now, but he took a breath and continued. ‘Hattie was lying on the bed, still wearing her clothes from the night before. During the night she’d vomited and must have choked. She was already gone when we found her… If I had stayed in the same room as her that night, I could have helped her. She might still be here today.’ Roman was distraught. ‘It never gets any easier talking about it. And I didn’t want to talk about it, but today’s just brought all those memories back to the surface again.’

Ella was stunned. The knot in her stomach was twisting. She could see the bottom had fallen out of Roman’s world, and she didn’t know what to do or say. She moved closer to him and held him tightly as he cried.

‘I’m so sorry, this is awful,’ she murmured. There were just no words that could make this situation any better, it was so utterly heart-breaking. She held him until he pulled away,

‘And that’s the reason I don’t drink. Not a drop has passed my lips since that day. Alcohol killed Hattie.’

‘I saw you pour the champagne away… into the pot plant, of all places.’ Ella squeezed his knee. ‘But what I don’t understand is what’s happening now.’

‘Megan is what’s happening now and she’s out of control. I feel a failure as her dad, just saying that.’

‘You aren’t a failure, I’m sure you’re a wonderful dad.’

‘I wanted to handle it on my own. What’s happening now is Megan’s business but I’m at a loss as to how to support her. I have got outside help… from Oasis Lodge. It’s Megan who has the problem with alcohol, not me – and that’s probably all my fault too. I brought Megan up as a single father and with my job, we were on the road a lot. She was surrounded mostly by hard-drinking men, no mother figure in her life; and yes, she skipped a lot of school, but I had no choice.