Clodagh followed her into the house, surprised to see how much nicer it was inside. Freshly painted walls, a vase of fresh flowers on a small table, the air sweet with the smell of baking.

‘I made some biscuits earlier,’ Bella said, leading Clodagh along the narrow hallway to a small kitchen at the back of the house. ‘I like to bake most mornings, even if it means getting up early. There’s something so therapeutic about it.’

Like the rest of the interior, the kitchen looked as if it had been newly painted. The units were old-fashioned and ugly, but it was clear someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make the place as pleasant as it was possible to do without spending money.

Simon was sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over his mobile phone. He looked up, nodding at Bella before looking at Clodagh.

‘You came, then.’

‘Bella said you wanted to see me,’ Clodagh said. ‘I’m so sorry about Nick. I can’t imagine how awful this must be for you both.’

Simon grunted, but didn’t expand beyond that.

Clodagh remembered the first time she’d met Nick’s brother. Adam had organised a memorial service to mark the one-year anniversary of the crash. Hundreds of people turned up, relatives of those who’d lost loved ones mingling with the handful of people who’d survived. Nick had been there, still in his wheelchair back then, accompanied by a man Clodagh couldn’t take her eyes off. Because while Nick had a certain thuggish attractiveness about him, his younger brother was nothing short of beautiful. Ink-blue eyes framed with long, dark lashes, lean and long-limbed and, when he smiled, there was nothing you could do except smile back.

The sudden rush of attraction had taken her aback. She’d spent most of the previous months feeling nothing at all. Empty days that she endured through a grey fog that left her feeling isolated and alone. Driven by the need to keep the feeling alive, she had crossed the room to speak to him. And discovered, to her disappointment, that there was very little going on behind that perfect face.

‘Sit down,’ Bella told Clodagh. ‘I’ll put the kettle on. What would you like to drink?’

‘Coffee would be lovely,’ Clodagh said, choosing the chair furthest from Simon and sitting down. Bella hadn’t exaggerated when she said Simon wasn’t in a good place. He was wound up so tight, Clodagh got the impression one wrong word and he’d explode.

‘I saw Adam on the TV this morning,’ Simon said. ‘I bet he’s enjoying all this, isn’t he?’

‘Of course he’s not enjoying it,’ Clodagh said. ‘He’s very upset by what’s happened. We both are.’