Bella smiled as Mrs Barnes, who had spoken to her about Leonie’s costume, interrupted. Nick gave a small smile and went off to find Freddie on the climbing frame. She was sorry to see him go. She’d been enjoying his conversation. The fact that he knew exactly what she was going through had been a surprising bond between them and he’d shown a level of empathy she hadn’t credited most men with. Perhaps that was just because Evan could sometimes be a little insensitive. She’d always excused it with tiredness or speaking without thinking but now she wondered if that had been one of the signs she’d been missing.

‘Miss Moore, do you have a second?’

‘Of course,’ she replied. Bella had sent the tiger costume she’d found in the dressing-up box at school home with Leonie to try. Thankfully, it had fitted perfectly. She wondered if there was another problem though as Mrs Barnes wrung her hands together, finding the courage to speak. ‘I wanted to ask about these forms. Are you the only one who knows who things are for?’

‘That’s right. I coordinate everything and the tags all have numbers on, so I know who they’re intended for. The information on them is general, not specific. It might say girl’s teddy age 3–5 or boy’s trainers size 3. I thought that would be the easiest thing to do.’

‘I – I was thinking about filling one in. I know you sent one home in the book bags and that you’ve already helped us out with a costume, but my husband, he doesn’t like asking for charity and neither do I, to be honest. It makes me feel ashamed. Like a failure.’ Mrs Barnes pulled a tissue from her coat pocket and wiped her nose.

‘Oh, Mrs Barnes, please don’t feel like that. I never started the giving tree to make people feel bad. This is so that Meadowbank can do what it’s always done, which is help out our neighbours. Do you remember when Amelia came back from Paris and got the flu? Everyone took her food baskets and things to help her out. I just wanted to do something a little different at a special time of year. Charity isn’t a dirty word and I like to think of it more as help. The same way we’d drop a library book back for a neighbour or buy flowers when we know someone’s been poorly.’ Mrs Barnes relaxed a little more.

‘Okay, I’ll talk to Kurt. Thanks, Miss Moore.’