Meredith swallowed. ‘She – Andrea – came over on Saturday night. Pete invited her and cooked dinner for the three of us. We were all good friends. Well, I think we were all hoping that Pete and her would get together, they have – had – such a spark. Me and Pete were hoping that, anyway, although he’d only just admitted it. He’s really slow at picking up on when women like him. I told him on Saturday he needed to make a move, and something did happen between them: a good-night kiss when I was in the loo…’ She caught the glance that Mark shot Gemma. ‘It was reciprocated! Pete was floating on air after it. He said she’d invited him round to hers next, to return the favour. He thought it was finally the start of something.’

‘Finally?’ Gemma asked. ‘How long had they known each other?’

‘A while,’ said Meredith. ‘Since Pete moved to the marina about a year ago. Andrea was there already – I think she bought her barge shortly after she got divorced in Hungary and moved to the UK. She was neighbourly to him when they moved in. They all are, on their pontoon; they’re like a little commune – or community anyway. They became friends quite quickly, and then I got to know her too, because I’m there a lot.’

‘And nothing had ever happened between them before?’ Mavis sounded incredulous, and Gemma thought how crass he was. As if he was implying that Andrea had been so attractive, it was impossible that Pete would have been able to resist. She could see from Meredith’s expression that she felt the same as her.

‘No. Pete’s shy, and I think Andy was reluctant to upset the status quo and possibly ruin their friendship. If you ask me, it’s because she was pregnant and saw that Pete still liked her in spite of that. She realised she could trust him…’

‘Who was the father of Andrea’s baby?’ Mark asked, clasping his hands together as if he was about to pray. Gemma, not for the first time, regarded his beautifully white, strong nails and wondered at them. Did the man go to a nail bar? She’d never seen a bloke with such perfect nails. Her own were bitten and ridged.

‘Nobody knows,’ Meredith said. ‘We all wondered. Apparently it was a result of a one-night stand she had in Hungary when she went back to visit her parents last year … Oh! Her parents…’

‘Her parents have been informed,’ Gemma said. ‘They’re planning to come over soon and sort out her possessions, try and organise selling the barge and so on.’

Meredith’s face was stricken. ‘They did know she was pregnant, didn’t they?’

‘No. They didn’t know. It came as a shock – another shock – to them.’ Gemma spoke quietly, and she and Meredith exhaled simultaneously, a breath of pure empathy, one woman to another.