My mobile vibrating against the painted wooden surface of my bedside cabinet wakes me up. I fumble to twist the clock round and stare bleary-eyed at the time. Almost one in the morning. I check the caller display, recognize Anna’s home number and very nearly don’t pick up. Then I reason that for her to be ringing at such a late hour, it can’t be for anything trivial.

‘Anna?’

‘It’s Kai,’ a small voice responds.

I’m immediately alert. ‘Kai? What are you doing up this late?’

‘Mum’s not come home.’

ANNA

March 2018 Two Months Earlier

‘YOU’RE A STAR,’ GRACE SAID. ‘I AM SO GRATEFUL.’

Anna had her mobile trapped between her shoulder and ear while she rinsed her paintbrushes under the tap in the kitchen. Creamy-white swirls spiralled around the stainless-steel sink and disappeared down the drain.

‘No problem. What time will your ex pick her up? Will she want dinner, or does he like to do that himself?’

‘Oh. Gosh, I don’t know. I’ll text him if you like.’

‘No, don’t worry. I’ll give her a snack when we get in, that way she won’t be starving, but she won’t have spoilt her appetite either.’

Anna was gushing, trying too hard to please Grace Trelawney. Grace’s ex, Douglas Parr, was supposed to be collecting Lottie from school, but he’d been delayed, and Grace was in town, picking out soft furnishings for some swanky house she was getting ready for tenants and meeting Nick for supper and the theatre. Anna wasn’t sure why she had been chosen to help her out instead of one of Grace’s small coterie of close friends, but maybe none of them were available. She didn’t mind that she was way down the list if it meant she got her foot through the door.

She wanted to meet Nick Ritchie again casually, to be introduced to him at a dinner party or something like that. She wanted to see his face as he tried to work out where he knew her from. To be honest, she was getting a little impatient. It was very cliquey round here, though they were friendly enough. Perhaps it was because she was on her own. Maybe they were the sort of women who had the vapours at the very idea of uneven numbers. She had only moved here six weeks ago, but she was beginning to get a sense that this was the case. It wasn’t easy to break into established circles. Everyone had been welcoming, but there’d been a point where she had felt encouraged to stop and come no further. Like a line drawn in front of a cash machine or a dartboard. It was early days, though. Things would change. Grace asking for her help was proof if she needed it.