A knock at the door woke Bella the next morning far earlier than she would have liked. Opening her eyes, realisation dawned that there was no one in the bed with her and that she was in the drabber spare room she’d hoped would one day become a bright, pretty nursery. Forcing back tears, she climbed out of bed and slipped on her big fluffy dressing gown. Her dad had been wrong: it hadn’t seemed better this morning. In fact, realising it was real and this would be her life from now on felt like a knife to her heart.

After her family had left last night, which hadn’t been until after ten, she’d gone straight to bed, but even with extra blankets over the top of her thick duvet and the heating on, she hadn’t been able to get warm. She knew it was shock: her body starting to react to the pain in her heart. Her mind had swiftly followed as the numbness wore off and, stupidly, she’d thought of all the practical things she needed to do: taking his name off the utility bills and buying him out of his half of the property because there was no way she was leaving Lavender Cottage. At least if she cut back on other things, she’d be able to afford the mortgage on her own. They were all things to be thankful for, but they hadn’t stopped her shivering in the empty silence of the house as she squeezed her eyes shut, tired of crying.

The knocking continued and Bella grimaced as she glanced at the clock. It was only just seven. She didn’t need to be at Bluebell Park until a quarter to nine and was looking forward to at least a small lie-in. Another bang on the door forced her to shout, ‘Hang on, I’m just coming,’ as she descended the stairs, but the only response was some high-pitched giggling.

Frowning, she opened the door. ‘Mum, Caro, what are you doing here?’

‘We’re taking you on a trip to cheer you up,’ her mum answered.

‘We talked about it last night after we left,’ Caro said, bouncing on her tiptoes which, considering she was enormously pregnant, was no mean feat. ‘Luke doesn’t mind. He’s going to paint the nursery today anyway.’

Bella yawned. It was still dark outside, and the world of Meadowbank lay fast asleep. As she should have been. A few birds twittered and chirped in the hedgerows, and the odd light was on in downstairs windows, but nothing moved apart from the trees. ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about. My head hurts, my eyes hurt, and I just want to go to back to bed.’