‘Just that things hadn’t been great for a while and I just didn’t really notice. I was so wrapped up in our comfortable routine I didn’t see how unspectacular it was and for ages there’d been so many things we didn’t agree on, opinions of his that had changed. I think we’d got to a point in our lives where we wanted different things and he saw it before I did.’

‘He still shouldn’t have left you the way he did, trying to sneak out leaving you a Dear John and a ransacked bedroom.’

‘No, he shouldn’t, but then Evan was nowhere near as perfect as I made him out to be.’

‘And Nick Cowley?’ Caro asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

‘I don’t know about perfect, but he’s a pretty good specimen of what a man should be.’

Caro rubbed her bump. ‘Then I don’t think it matters what your head says, Bella. Your heart’s clearly telling you all you need to know.’

For once Bella was happy to admit that her little sister may well be right.

Chapter 20

The week passed in a blur of smiling activity for Bella as she came closer to understanding her feelings for Nick. Pantomime rehearsals were stepping up a gear as showtime grew ever nearer, which meant Mrs Brody was a bundle of highly strung nerves. Wednesday’s staff meeting had been unusually exciting after the latest rehearsal had been even more of a shambles than the first. Voices had been raised (Mr Osbourne’s and Mrs Brody’s) and criticisms voiced (Mr Osbourne again, though vehemently denied by Mrs Brody). Mrs White had refereed events wonderfully while Bella, Johnny and Nina sat silently spectating. It seemed that some of the children weren’t bothering to learn their learns and those who had, had forgotten them already. They were still having trouble with the new rendition of ‘Poker Face’ and most of the time the children fudged their way through the bits they couldn’t remember and sung extra loudly on the bits they could to make up for it.

For Bella, it was a huge relief that things between Freddie and Amias had quietened down, though she was unsure if he was just turning his attention to someone else. He’d been teasing poor little Hannah and two times this week he’d been on red on the behaviour chart and off to Mrs White’s office. Something was definitely going on and knowing that his father was having an affair, Bella wondered if he’d picked up on something at home. She resolved to have a chat with him this week and see if he’d open up to her.