I vacate my stool as Charlie and Jess hop up and make a start on their breakfasts, bickering about the name of some YouTuber’s dog, if I’m hearing correctly. As I begin tidying the kitchen, Matt asks me about Holly again. I glare at him and shake my head.

‘Who’s Holly?’ Jess asks.

‘No one. Someone at work,’ I snap.

‘I thought you worked for Dee.’

‘I do. But there are a few new people who’ve started there too.’

‘Oh.’ Jess pours milk on her cereal and all over the breakfast bar. ‘Are they nice, the new people?’

‘They seem nice.’

Matt mouths sorry at me over their heads, but I’m furious with him for talking about such a sensitive subject at this time of the morning while the kids are in the room. What was he thinking? I slam the breakfast things back in their cupboards and load up the dishwasher with last night’s plates. Maybe I’m overreacting, but my emotions are all over the place at the moment.

Jess and Charlie have shovelled their cornflakes into their mouths in record time and are already sliding off the stools. ‘Up you go and get your bags,’ I say, trying not to let my internal anger spill out. ‘Then I need you back down in five minutes.’

Once they’re out of the room, Matt tries to come over and put his arms around me. I hold my hands up to ward him off and take a step back. He freezes, his lips pressing into a firm line. ‘I said I was sorry.’

‘Matt, this isn’t the time to be talking about any of this. And I can’t believe you mentioned her name while Charlie and Jess were in the room. This is hard enough as it is without you pressuring me to talk about it at breakfast.’

‘But you didn’t want to talk about it last night either.’

‘That’s because I was knackered from spilling my guts about the most traumatic event of my life to a total stranger.’

Matt’s jaw tightens. ‘Sorry for caring.’

I stifle a sigh. ‘Please don’t get angry, Matt. I will talk about it, but you have to give me some space.’

‘Yeah, but you made this huge revelation, and now you don’t even want me to mention it.’

‘Shh, keep your voice down.’ I look up at the ceiling, mindful of the children hearing our disagreement. ‘I get that you want to know what happened, but will you please let me talk about this in my own time? I know it’s been a bombshell for you and it’s a lot for you to take in. But I’m losing my mind a bit here.’