‘Fifteen.’ She smiles, all fears for her missing daddy gone out the window. No one expected this distraction.

The noise from the kitchen reminds me there’s a party going on so I inhale deeply and head back to the crowd, leaving Amber to chat to her grandfather. My head does not know which dilemma to concentrate on but I can’t sneak out now, not with my father in the next room. I reach for my phone. No messages. Jesus, Tom, where are you?

The noise has reached a new level of annoyance. I want all these people to leave. Pack up their kids and party bags and make their way to the door. Ellen must sense my wishes. She’s busy tidying up, subtly suggesting they’ve all had enough. Asking them if they’ve had a nice time and what their plans are for the rest of the day. Nice work, Ellen.

All that effort and now we’re practically pushing the guests out the door because Tom isn’t here and no one knows why.

Deirdre from three doors up seems most upset at the suggestion the party is ending. Watching her fill her glass, I’m guessing she had plans to stay here for as long as she could. If I had to go home to her house, to that donkey of a man she married, I’d be filling my glass too. And Donna, flirty Donna. I’m pretty sure she’s not impressed she didn’t get a chance to flaunt her stuff at ‘Big Bad Tom’. That’s what she calls my husband, for some reason. It bugs me. But I have bigger things to worry about. My husband is missing and my father has arrived.

‘How’s it going?’ His voice always has that same hushed tone like everything he says is a secret.

‘What?’

‘Where’s Tom?’

‘Oh, he had to go and help a friend who was in a spot of trouble, I’m expecting him back very soon.’

‘That’s a bit strange – was there no one else who could—’

Shooting a stare straight into my father’s eyes, I stop him mid-sentence. There is no way I’m going to listen to my father criticize Tom, no way.

I walk away from his words to where Amber is standing in the bustling hallway. My dad follows, walks past me. ‘I’ll be in touch, call me if you need me,’ he says, before kissing Amber on the head and muttering a few words to her before walking out the door.

Chapter Eight

The children are delighted with the goodie bags Amber hands them as they leave. My heart is thumping in my chest, my legs barely strong enough to hold me up. The possibility that something dreadful has happened to Tom won’t leave my head.