I reach out an arm to pull him into a group hug, but he sidesteps it and squeezes my hand instead. I mouth the word “Hungover?” but he shakes his head.

“I’m fine.”

“It’s my school fair this afternoon,” Chloe says. “Will you come? I’ve made some loom bands to sell. Mrs James said I can give half the proceeds to Green Fields. It would be so cool if you came. Please say you will.”

“What time does it start?”

“Two p.m.”

My shift finishes at lunchtime so, in theory, I could make it. I glance at Will, who shrugs his shoulders then turns away and plucks a cat toy from the merchandise display. He jiggles it up and down in his hand. The tiny bell inside makes a tinny jangling sound.

“Will?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t turn round. The annoying jangling sound continues.

He’s either lying about being hungover or there’s something else on his mind.

“I’d love to come to your school fair,” I say to Chloe, “but I won’t stay too long.”

“Brilliant! Can we go and see the kittens now?” Chloe gazes up at me and I’m reminded of Jack with his big, trusting brown eyes. “Please!”

“Of course.” I disentangle her and reach for her hand. She takes it then reaches for Will’s hand, too. She swings our hands back and forth as we cross reception. To an outsider, we’d look like the perfect, happy little family. Happy, that is, apart from the strange sideways looks Will keeps giving me.

“They’re so cute, can I have one, Daddy? Please?” Chloe is sitting on the carpet with a tiny, tabby kitten desperately trying to clamber out of the circle she’s made with her legs. We’ve completed the tour of the sanctuary and retreated to the “cat living room” where potential adopters can spend time with the cats in a more natural environment. We’ve furnished it with sofas, armchairs, beanbags and a radio. “Daddy?”

Will, who’s been looking at his phone since we sat down, looks up. “Sorry?”

“A kitten? Can we have one?”

He looks back down at his phone. “We’ll see.”

“Is that a yes?”

“We’ll have to ask your mum.”

“She’d say yes, I know she would. And if she said no, we could always keep it at your house, couldn’t we? Couldn’t we, Daddy? It could live at your house and I could see it at weekends. I know you’d have to look after it during the week, but I’d be there more often in the holidays, and—”

“I said, we’ll see, Chloe.”

She visibly jumps at his raised voice then folds herself over the kitten, tears pricking at her eyes, and scoops him off the floor and presses him to her chest.

I lean in towards Will and say in a low voice, “Is everything okay?”