‘Oh, yes,’ said Cynthia suddenly remembering. ‘It went horribly black, and his finger was awfully swollen. He kept moaning and waving it at me like I should be doing something to fix it. What he imagined I could do I’ve no idea. I did tell him to be careful.’ Cynthia brightened, forgetting about her husband’s agony. ‘Don’t worry though. As Adam’s a carpenter I’m sure he’ll do all the hammering. Your dad will probably just be holding and passing stuff all day. But I might just text Adam and advise him not to let your dad near any No-nails. Do you remember the debacle with the picture frame and his middle finger?’

Bella turned to Caro hoping for some support, but Caro was giggling away at the memory and her giant smile and the posh make-up she’d applied told Bella she was as much in favour of this trip has their mum was.

‘Come on,’ Caro said, ushering her back up the stairs. ‘Time to get dressed. We’re going Christmas shopping somewhere special.’

Knowing that resistance was futile, Bella did as she was told. Her puffy eyes, sore from crying, struggled to focus as she made it back up the stairs. Her legs felt heavy like someone had removed her bones and replaced them with concrete slabs. Telling herself to find the positives, she didn’t know if this was a good idea or a bad one, but she was grateful for her family all the same. Though being at Bluebell Park would take her mind off things, there was every possibility she’d spend the day being asked about Evan and if she was all right, which would invariably bring more tears and additional pain. A day out of the village might be just the thing.

Half an hour later, Caro bellowed from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Are you ready yet? What’s taking so long? I’m heavily preggers and even I manage to get dressed quicker than this even though I have to wear clothes the size of circus tents and Luke has to put my socks on for me. If you don’t hurry up, I’ll need another wee.’

‘She keeps crying and washing all her make-up off,’ Cynthia answered from Bella’s spare bedroom.

Bella dabbed at her eyes and sniffed as her mum handed her another tissue. ‘Don’t worry, I think I’m done now.’

‘Good, then let’s get going or we’ll miss our train. And I know I said I’d clear this today, but I’ll do it tomorrow.’

‘Thanks, Mum. Where are we going?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough. Come on.’

After she’d locked the front door behind her, she followed her mum and sister down the small path to Caro’s car.