While the dough proved, Nick sent Freddie up for a shower and he prepared the toppings. Bella sat at the breakfast bar at the end of the kitchen counter, eating crisps out of the bowl Nick had sweetly emptied them into. He topped up her wine glass.

‘Sorry we haven’t got any fancy appetisers or something nicer.’

‘Hey, prawn cocktail crisps are good enough for me. My mum gets them in especially every year because I’m the only Moore who likes them.’

‘I remember that year your mum and dad started a Christmas can-can around the village on Christmas Eve.’

‘When they fell out of the pub on Christmas Eve you mean?’ He grinned. ‘Don’t remind me. Caro and I were mortified.’

‘You shouldn’t be – they’re fun.’

She moved her elbow, accidentally knocking over a photograph of Freddie, Paige and Nick that had sat at the corner of the counter. ‘Sorry! I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Nick took the photo and stood it up on the windowsill. ‘I’m always knocking it over too.’

‘Is it hard having her picture around?’ she asked. ‘I’ve hidden everything with Evan in, but you can’t do that, can you?’

‘No. It wouldn’t be fair on Freddie. He needs to see what his mum looks like. I don’t want him to forget and as I don’t know when she’s coming back … She could look completely different by the time she gets here.’

Was he fully over her, she wondered? She shook the thought from her head. ‘Freddie’s such a great kid. You’ve done an amazing job guiding him through all this. He’s still such a happy boy.’

‘I don’t know how.’ Nick leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. His glass of wine dangled from one hand and he took a sip. She felt so easy in his company, but nervous too, not wanting to make a mistake and spoil it all. ‘I just plod along day to day, but I have tried to get a bit more organised recently. I just feel like whatever I do, it’s never enough or not right.’

‘I think every parent feels like that. I know every teacher does.’

‘Are you spending Christmas with your family?’

Bella nodded as she drank. ‘It’s just what we do. We all pile into Mum and Dad’s and spend the day there drinking and eating too much. We’ll probably play some board games in the afternoon or go for a walk to sober up, then it’s back for cheese and wine in the evenings. Evan used to hate it.’

‘Why? It sounds perfect.’