‘She’s gone to a friend’s house.’ I gesture for him to take a seat on the armchair. ‘And you’re going to have to do some serious apologizing if you want her to come back.’

‘She’s got nowhere else to go,’ he says flatly as he slumps into the chair.

‘Give her a ring after you’ve called Ian.’ I hand him the cordless phone. ‘Tell him you’ll be back in work this week.’

‘What if I don’t want to?’

‘What if you don’t want to?’ Mark jumps up from the sofa, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. ‘Do you think I enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn so I can sit in traffic for an hour each day? Do you think I enjoy it when some sour-faced doctor’s receptionist tells me the doctors can’t make the meeting I scheduled three weeks earlier and drove halfway across town to make? Do you seriously think I’d rather go to work when I could stay here and look after your mother instead? Someone has to bring some money in. Someone has to feed this family and keep a roof over our heads.’

Jake claps his hands; a slow, sarcastic round of applause. ‘Well, congratulations. The father-of-the-year award goes to Mark Wilkinson.’

‘Jake, stop it!’ I say.

‘Stop what? It’s all bollocks. All that shit about providing for the family. He doesn’t do it for us. He does it for him. And if we don’t toe the line we get it in the neck. He’s not a father, he’s a fucking dictator and he won’t be happy until I’m dead and buried too.’

I put my hands on his shoulders and shout in his face. ‘STOP IT!!’

He stares at me with such shock, such uncomprehending horror, that it’s all I can do not to burst into tears.

‘Ring Ian.’ My hand shakes as I point at the phone. ‘Ring your boss!’

My heart is beating so hard in my chest I can hear it in my ears.

‘I’m sorry I screamed at you but you’re better than this. Stronger than this. And I won’t stand by and watch you destroy yourself and everything you’ve ever loved. I have already lost one son and I won’t lose you too.’

‘Jake?’ I say as Mark walks silently out of the room. ‘I need you to ring Ian and tell him you’ll be back at work this week. Then I want you to ring Kira and apologize for shouting at her. Okay?’

‘Okay.’ His voice is no louder than a whisper.

Mark is in the bedroom, perched on the edge of the bed, his overnight case packed and zipped at his feet.

‘Tell me to stay,’ he says as I gently close the door behind me. ‘Just say the word and I’ll stay.’