I search my mind for something to say in response, but the best I can manage is, “Great.” All my attention is on the phone in my pocket, waiting for it to vibrate again. I’m simultaneously terrified and desperate at the prospect.

“It keeps me out of trouble,” Sara says, and laughs lightly. The second she stops, the silence is deafening.

“How is your thumb?” I ask, remembering her trip to A&E.

“On the mend.” She takes her left hand out of her pocket, revealing a neat bandage.

“That’s good,” I reply, and then the awkward silence returns.

“I think Chloe’s going to have to use her elbows to get through the queue at the refreshment table,” Will says, and, as one, we all turn to look in that direction.

“I should get going,” I say as Sara glances at her watch.

“Yes.” She nods as if in agreement. “Me too, though I did promise Jo I’d visit her stall and buy a few raffle tickets first. Will, could you tell Chloe where I am when she gets back?” When he nods, she looks at me. “Lovely to meet you, Jane. I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you.”

The knot of anxiety in my stomach untwists, ever so slightly, as she strolls away, head held high, waving at other parents across the playground.

“Sorry,” Will says, the second she’s out of earshot. “I didn’t know she’d be here.”

He’s standing close enough that I could touch him if I reached out a hand, but the distance between us feels greater than that. It’s as though we’re both cloaked with invisible force fields; one step too close and the other will be repelled. I’m struck with the sudden urge to tell him how much I enjoyed watching Battlestar Galactica the other night, after I forced myself to watch it, but it feels too intimate. It’s the sort of conversation we’d have had before he decided we needed some space from each other.

“There she is!” His shoulders slump with relief as Chloe bursts through the crowd of children at the refreshment stall, a bottle of water raised victoriously above her head.

“Got it!” she shouts as she runs towards us and thrusts the plastic bottle into my hand. “Sorry it took me so long. I’d just got to the front when a lady in a blue hat started asking me questions about Jane.” She uncurls her right hand and presents Will with a palmful of coins. “Here’s your change, Daddy.”

“A lady asked you about me?” I press a hand to my chest.

“Yeah. She asked me if Daddy calls you Jane or Emma.” She looks from me to Will and back again as though gauging our reactions. “And I told her that was a silly question because everyone knows your name is Jane.”