‘Bella, I … thank you.’ The relief on his face was palpable. He reached his hand to the back of his neck, pressing as if to ease the knotted muscles. ‘She just turned up, Bella. I didn’t know what do. I don’t know …’

His eyes were kind, sorry, and she didn’t want to make this even harder for him. In his position, she’d put her child first too. ‘I understand, Nick. It’s okay.’

Her words were quiet and echoed in the bubble of silence around them. Even though there was nothing but noise on either side of them, the air around them was still. The children could be heard from their classrooms and the parents were chatting and laughing in the hall, yet here they were in a strange kind of reticence.

Nick dropped his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Bella. I’m really sorry.’ And he headed back to the hall and his wife.

Chapter 28

‘I still can’t believe she just turned up like that,’ Trish said, placing a huge hunk of roast beef onto a cutting board. She wrapped it in foil and placed the Yorkshire pudding pan into the oven, cranking up the heat. ‘The bloody cheek of the woman, after all this time, just turning up like she’s been on a long weekend with the girls or something.’

Nick buried his head in his hands, pushing the heels into his eyes. At least Freddie wasn’t here. He was having the afternoon with Paige next door while Nick came to Trish and Len’s for dinner. He needed some space. Some time to think and he couldn’t do that in the house filled with Freddie’s happiness and excitement. He couldn’t bear being there anymore while Paige suddenly took an interest in everything Freddie had done over the last six months. When Len had knocked on the door an hour ago asking if they wanted to come over, Nick had never agreed to anything as quickly.

Len scoffed loudly. ‘When I turned up, she was lounging in the living room like she’d never left.’ He poured Nick a large glass of wine. ‘You’re not going anywhere this afternoon are you, mate?’

‘Only to hell and back.’

Len splashed some more wine into his glass.

Nick’s head thumped from the lack of sleep he’d experienced all week. Of course he’d offered Paige his bed while he slept on the sofa, but no matter how tired he felt sleep never arrived. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Bella’s desolate expression. Had she figured it was the end for them too? Why had Paige had to come back? His future had gone from full of hope to some dreary, post-apocalyptic wasteland. His body had woken up at Bella’s kiss and now he was slowly dying again. Shutting down like an out-of-battery robot.