‘I can’t say it back,’ she said, shaking her head, tears threatening to spill over.

‘Do you want to say it back?’ Francesco said.

‘No,’ said Penny. ‘Because I know what you did.’

‘What I did?’

‘The day I left. The woman. The woman with all that hair.’

Francesco looked like he’d been slapped. The colour drained from his face.

‘How did you …?’ he began, taking a step towards Penny with his hand out, as if he was going to reach for her wrist, or her waist.

‘Don’t,’ said Penny, taking a step back and bumping into the sofa. ‘Don’t touch me.’

‘I need to explain.’

‘I don’t care.’

‘Yes you do. Is this why we didn’t speak? Is this why you disappeared? Because you saw me with Valentina?’

Penny went wild. ‘Do NOT say her name to me. Don’t you dare say her name!’

‘I’m so sorry, Pen. I am so, so sorry if you thought … for all this time … that …’ He stumbled over his own words, trying to decide where to start. ‘She’s nothing to me. That was my ex. It was messed up. She was there, somehow. I didn’t know she still had me on Find My Friend. You know the app? We did it when we were together so she could see when I was on my way home from work. She’d been using it to see where I was going and that’s how she knew I was at Bridges a lot. I told you she wanted me back, that she wanted to make it right after cheating. She thought I had a new job, I think, so went there looking for me. She was there right after you left, and I don’t know … I hate her for what she did to me so much, and I hated you for leaving, and she was apologizing to me, telling me how much she needed me, wanted me, and for a tiny second I could believe it was you saying those things.’

‘I came back for you,’ Penny said. ‘I turned the car around and in the thirty seconds since I left all this happened?’

Francesco shook his head, mortified at what she’d seen. ‘Penny. I was so stupid. I wanted you to ask me to come with you so much.’

‘I hated you for months,’ Penny spat. ‘You broke my heart and you promised me you wouldn’t do that.’ Francesco launched himself at her before she could object, pulling her close. She pushed her face against his t-shirt and he held her, tightly, stroking her hair.

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘It’s okay.’ Together they rocked back and forth.

‘Are you telling me the truth?’ she said, her voice muffled by his chest. ‘If you lie to me …’