I clicked on her profile, which of course I couldn’t see most of. She looked to still have the same name, so maybe not married. I could see a few of her profile pictures, arty landscape shots, and the odd public post like charity fundraising, or political causes. Lisa seemed like an earnest, do-gooding person. I sent her a message, explaining that I knew it was strange, but a friend of mine was in a relationship with Nick Thomas, and I was worried about her. Did she have a minute to chat to me about him? They were no longer Facebook friends, Lisa and Nick, so it was possible she didn’t know he was married. It was also possible she’d contact him and tell him everything. But I had to try.

Suzi

Suzi

It snowed overnight. Nick was excited, wiping at the steamed-up window like a child. ‘You never get this in London, not thick like this! Isn’t it pretty?’ He sighed. ‘Poppet would have loved this. Poor boy.’

I couldn’t share his excitement. ‘I hope Nora’s alright. It’s freezing in Ivy Cottage.’

He frowned. ‘Must you always think of other people? Can’t you just, I don’t know, be with me for once, in the moment?’

It was beautiful, the white overlaying the fields and trees, the still breath of it all. But all I could feel was terror, thinking of what Nora had said about the police. It wasn’t a crime, what we’d been doing, but they didn’t know I’d got out of your car before you crashed. Even if I was innocent, they might still come, and how would I explain it to Nick? My heart failed at the thought. There’d be my fingerprints all over the car, my hair even – you were always complaining you had to check it every time for those distinctive red strands.

If the police did come, I had decided I’d say you’d given me a lift – you were a total stranger, you’d just seen me walking along the road on such a warm day. There were holes in the story, of course. There was your phone somewhere, presumably, and if you hadn’t got around to deleting everything, they might find me. You had called me briefly before picking me up, to see where I was. And Nick would want to know why I’d been anywhere near that place, walking along a bare stretch of country road with no pavement. But it could be denied. That was the thing. The tissue of lies was just strong enough to hold up.

‘What if we get snowed in?’ I said, remembering the estate agent’s words in spring.

‘That’s why I bought the four-wheel drive, so I can get to work,’ Nick said. ‘Anyway, I ordered plenty of supplies when we moved, water and cans and that.’