‘Thanks, Bella!’ I call out. ‘I’ll shoot off now.’

One of the doors at the end of the hall opens. Bella steps out of what I presume is her bedroom. She’s brushing her hair with a green hairbrush. ‘Sorry, I was just sorting out my hair. It’s a right mess.’

‘It’s not, it’s lovely. But you should definitely get into some dry clothes and dry your hair properly.’ I realise how parent-ish I sound.

She gives me a strange look and I can’t say I blame her – after all, who the hell am I to tell her how to look after herself? But at least she nods. The thing is, I can’t help myself – I don’t want her catching a chill. I’m so desperate for Bella to like me that I’m not sure how to act around her – what if she really is my daughter? It kills me that I have to be so restrained and act like I don’t care.

‘Okay, well, I’ll be off.’

‘Thanks for the lift,’ she says, and I’m touched by her politeness. Not all kids would remember to say thank you.

‘Any time.’

I walk back down the hall and turn back to give her one last smile before leaving the flat. But she’s gone back into her room and the hallway is empty. I swallow the lump in my throat and leave, closing the door behind me.

Holding the lighted match against the scrunched-up paper, I wait for the flame to catch, watching as a thin line of smoke curls upwards and flattens against the top of the burner.

‘How’s that hot chocolate?’ I smile at the appreciative noises behind me. As soon as the kids and I got home, we stripped off our sodden clothes, took it in turns to have hot showers and then changed into our pyjamas and dressing gowns. I made them an early tea of fish-finger sandwiches, and now we’re having hot chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles while I get the wood burner going.

I’m still worried about what Bella might say to Kate about our encounter today. The flames take hold of the paper and I wait for the kindling to catch before putting a small log into the burner and sitting back on my haunches.

‘Do you think Bella will tell Amy that she likes me?’ Jess asks, her voice small and hopeful. ‘Maybe now she’ll want to be my friend again.’

I sigh. ‘Maybe. But I think it’s better if you do what we said and hang out with some of your other friends for now.’ I get to my feet and sit next to her on the sofa.

‘But she was going to be my BFF. She promised.’