‘Because you miss him. Because you both need someone to talk to. And because your argument is eating away at you as much as it’s eating away at him. Don’t you think Jake would go back and sort things out with Billy if he could? He’d do it in a heartbeat. Don’t leave it too late to talk to Stephen. That’s all I’m saying.’

He reaches for the saucepan, then rests his hand on top of it.

‘I’m just so tired, Claire. I’m tired of fights and tension and not knowing from one day to the next what shitty thing is going to be thrown at us next. I just … I just want to rewind time and go back to when things were good. You know?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Remember that time?’ He looks at me, his eyes lighting up. ‘When the kids were little and they wanted to go camping but we couldn’t afford it so we borrowed a tent off Dad and set it up in the garden. The boys said they were going to stay in it all night but we knew they were both secretly scared and neither of them wanted to be the one to admit it and come in?’

‘We threw marbles at the tent through our bedroom window!’

‘They couldn’t get out fast enough!

‘They were good times.’ His smile disappears and sadness fills his eyes. ‘When did it all go wrong?’

‘They grew up. We did too. We were so young when they were born, not much more than kids ourselves.’

‘You haven’t changed at all.’

‘Haven’t I?’

‘I meant it as a compliment.’

‘I know.’

‘Claire.’ Mark takes a step towards me and his fingers brush the skin on the back of my hand. ‘I never wanted to hurt you. Not then, not now. I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy and what—’

‘All right, Mum? Dad.’ Jake steps into the kitchen, followed by Kira who raises her hand in a half-hearted wave.

‘Hello, sweetheart.’ I take a step towards him and give him a hug.

‘Kira.’ I reach for her too but her shoulders twitch away so I plant a kiss on her cheek instead.

‘DS Forbes just left,’ Mark says and they both stiffen. ‘Jason Davies wasn’t responsible for Billy’s disappearance. It was all bullshit. He made it up to get attention.’

Jake stares at him. ‘What?’

‘It’s true,’ I say. ‘The police looked into it and he was nowhere near Bristol the day Billy vanished. He was in Aberdeen. He was there for the two weeks.’

‘Do they know that for sure? Maybe he travelled down here? You hear about it all the time, murderers randomly driving somewhere just to kill someone and then—’

‘Jake.’ Kira pulls on his arm. ‘Jake, please don’t—’