Louisa didn’t say anything. It wasn’t an answer to the question – not really. It was to secure sympathy.

‘It must be terrible, the not knowing, and being away from your family, your support,’ Brian said. ‘If there’s anything we can do, Oliver …’

Louisa spun her head to look at Brian, her mouth gaping.

‘Thank you, Brian, that’s really kind of you. I must say, it’s a relief to have you guys on my side.’

‘Sure thing,’ Brian said.

Louisa saw him open his mouth in preparation to speak again. She had a feeling what he was about to utter wouldn’t be good and every instinct screamed at her to say something to stop him. But she was too slow.

‘How about a pint later? Say around eight?’ Brian said, putting his mug down and giving Oliver a pally slap on his upper arm. There it was. Unbelievable. She wanted Oliver out of her life and her own husband was inviting him in. May as well have invited the head vampire into their home for the unwanted backlash it could have. Louisa willed Oliver to say no, but knew it was futile.

‘Ah, mate – that’d be good. I could do with some time out. Cheers.’ Oliver’s grateful look to Brian made Louisa’s stomach lurch.

‘Settled then. Well, I’ve got to go to work. See you lot later.’ Brian kissed Emily on the head and Louisa on the cheek. So, there wasn’t going to be any discussion about Emily’s behaviour – her taking Noah without telling either of them, not to mention then walking with Oliver, a man she’d met once and knew nothing about.

In fact, none of them knew much about Oliver.

Louisa had known him a long time ago. Even then, she was likely to have only scratched the surface.

She certainly didn’t know the Oliver standing in her kitchen now.

Who he was, what he’d done.

‘Emily – I’d like to talk about this with you after school,’ Louisa said. She shot a look at Oliver and added, ‘In private.’

‘Fine. Nothing to talk about, but whatever. I’m getting ready for school then, see you later,’ and she smiled at Oliver before breezing past Louisa without even looking at her.

‘Teenagers, eh?’ Oliver chuckled. ‘You’ve got your work cut out there.’

‘Thanks for the observation. Now, I need to get on, get Noah washed and fed. So …’

‘Oh, right.’ Oliver drained his coffee and placed the mug near the sink. ‘Although, I haven’t got anything to do, really. I’m at a loose end, as they say. I could hang around, help out. I’ll be your baby-sitter if you like, so you can rest?’

‘I don’t think so. But thanks for the offer.’

‘I’m not sure what you’re afraid of, Lou-Lou.’ He moved towards her, his eyes focused fully on hers. A shiver rippled down her back.