Anna pushed Gabi back enough to look her in the face without going cross-eyed. ‘Hold on! No one said anything about Jeremy!’

Gabi tipped her head to one side and gave Anna an exasperated look. ‘But Jeremy is very nice – and very hot!’

‘You go salsa dancing with him then!’

‘No one is asking you to marry him. It’s just dancing. Think of him as… What is the word? Training wheels! You can take them off when you are ready for more.’

Anna folded her arms. ‘I said yes to salsa, not to Jeremy. And if you’re going to make me salsa at all, then you are going to be my partner.’

‘Oh, yes?’ Gabi held out her hands and beckoned to Anna with her fingertips. ‘Show me!’

Reluctantly, Anna got off the sofa and joined her friend. Gabi wouldn’t let her sit back down until they’d tried a few steps of what seemed like salsa, but it all got out of hand when Gabi tried to dip Anna and lost her balance. They ended up on the floor in a heap, giggling.

‘It’s good to hear you laugh,’ Gabi said.

Anna sighed. ‘I know.’

They pushed themselves onto all fours and then crawled back onto the sofa. ‘I’m going to get glasses,’ Gabi said, nodding at the wine. ‘Do you want to sleep here tonight?’

Anna crawled over to Gabi’s end of the sofa and gave her a big, fat, squishy kiss on the cheek. ‘I love you, you know that?’

Gabi gave her a squeeze back, then shoved her off so she could stand up. ‘I know. It’s hard not to.’

Anna gratefully accepted the large glass of red wine Gabi handed her a minute or so later, and the duvet and pillows that were thrown at her when they’d polished the bottle off so she could nest down on the sofa. Gabi even produced a pair of freshly laundered, brushed cotton pyjamas for Anna to wear.

‘Thank you,’ Anna said as she took them and held them to her chest.

‘They are too small for me now. You can have them if you want.’

‘Not for the pyjamas, you dafty – although they’re lovely – I meant for everything.’

‘I just want you to be happy.’

Anna nodded. She knew that. But it was safer not to reply in words, because she also knew that what Gabi wished for her just wasn’t possible. There was a difference between having a quick giggle about falling over your best friend’s two left feet and being truly content and peaceful. Anna wasn’t convinced she could ever feel that way again. How was it possible when a huge piece of herself was missing, and always would be?

ANNA RETURNED HOME the following morning and headed straight for the shower, leaving her clothes in a heap on the bathroom floor. It was her first day back at work after the Christmas holidays, and she didn’t want to be late, even if it wasn’t the most thrilling job in the world.