After a strained dinner of pasta, because that was the only thing Nick could manage to cook without thinking too much, Freddie was eventually packed off to bed.

‘Will you be here tomorrow, Mummy? Are you back? Are you staying here again?’

She hesitated then mumbled some answers and when she came down from reading him his story, she sat on the sofa opposite Nick. He’d opened a beer and poured her a glass of wine. It felt like the civilised thing to do but it was a pretence: an attempt at normality.

‘So why are you back, Paige? It didn’t work out in Bali?’ There was an edge to his words he couldn’t hide. ‘Or had you moved on from Bali?’

‘I know you’re angry, Nick, and you have every right to be.’

You’re damn right I do.

‘Things didn’t work out. I made a rash decision, and I threw away everything I love.’

She toyed with her fingernails. The nail varnish was chipped and patchy. He didn’t know what she’d been doing in Bali or where she’d been living, but he couldn’t help wondering if her real reason for returning was the comforts of home rather than the people who occupied it.

‘I’ve missed you and Freddie more than I can say. I’ve even missed this little place. I’d forgotten how pretty it is here at Christmas. I made the decision yesterday that I wanted to come home and I booked the first flight back—’

‘Yesterday?’ he interrupted. ‘You made the decision yesterday?’

Nick was careful to keep his voice low, knowing Freddie probably wouldn’t be asleep yet. But the fact that she’d only made the decision yesterday went to show that she was still the same impulsive person she’d been before. She might have changed her mind but for how long? How long before Meadowbank was too quiet for her again and she left once more, breaking Freddie’s heart in the process. Nick knew if he said anything it would escalate into a row and that wasn’t what Freddie needed to hear. He’d have to ask Trish to have Freddie so they could talk properly. That was if Trish could be trusted not to murder Paige first. He sipped his beer, letting it ease his burning throat.

‘So?’ The answer was fired back, and a hardness came over her features.

‘So where are you staying?’ Paige adjusted the fabric of her long skirt but didn’t answer. ‘You want to stay here, don’t you?’

‘This is still my home, Nick.’