‘We spend most of the day with Mum and Dad anyway,’ offered Caro. Which was true. Though they normally only intended to stay for Christmas morning, once the Moores got together there was no separating them. Especially when the booze was opened. Evan had always found that difficult, but he’d learned to accept it. Was that another thing that had made him leave? Could he not face another Christmas with her family? ‘And I need to tidy my bedroom.’

‘I won’t moan at you if it’s messy,’ Cynthia joked and Bella explained how Evan had left it. ‘Arsehole,’ Cynthia declared, crossing her arms over her chest only to release them immediately and hug her daughter.

‘Maybe I’ll sleep in the spare room tonight. I just can’t face it.’

‘I think that’s a good idea,’ Cynthia said, rubbing her back. ‘Sleep in the spare room tonight and I’ll tidy for you tomorrow. Caro will come up with me in a minute and we’ll get you some clothes for the morning, so you don’t have to even look at it, and by the time you get home from Bluebell Park I’ll have cleaned it all and it’ll be good as new. That’s if you’re still volunteering tomorrow.’

Bella rested her head on her mum’s shoulder. At the moment she wanted to stay here, forever protected from the reality of her life by the safety and love her family offered, but she couldn’t – wouldn’t – let people down and the other option was sitting alone in her cottage all day. ‘No. I’ll still go. Thanks though, Mum. I love you.’

‘We love you too, sweetheart,’ her dad said. ‘I promise, this won’t seem as bad in the morning. It won’t be long till my little ray of sunshine is shining again.’

A vision of Miss Havisham only in more comfortable clothes and fleecy slippers popped into Bella’s head. She felt a million miles away from her usual self and even the prospect of Christmas had lost its magical glow.

Could what her dad said be true? She didn’t think so. If anything, she was sure she was going to feel worse tomorrow. Right now, none of it seemed real. The only thing she knew for sure was that waking up tomorrow without the man she’d loved – that she still loved because feelings didn’t get turned off like a light switch just because the other person changed their mind – was going to hurt like hell.

Chapter 3