‘Look, Sally, I’m really sorry, I tried to get here, I promise, but things just went from bad to worse.’

‘I’m all ears,’ I say, showing little empathy.

‘Eamon called, his car broke down. I went to pick him up and bring him to the golf club. I would have been back in time. But…’ Pushing his hand through wet hair, Tom sighs. He turns his head away from me and wipes his eyes. Shit. Is he going to cry?

‘What happened, Tom?’ Moving off the stool to the other side of the kitchen island I notice he is shaking.

‘I hit someone with the car.’

‘You what?’

‘Someone on a bike.’ Tom sees the alarm on my face. ‘Look, they’re fine… it’s nothing serious… they got discharged from the hospital… but—’

‘But what, Tom?’

‘The police took me to the station and breathalyzed me, it took them forever. Right bastards. I told them it was my kids’ birthdays but they didn’t seem to give a toss. Eventually they did the breath test, which I passed. The problem is…’ Taking a deep breath he pauses for a moment then, gripping my arms, he looks into my eyes, preparing me for something bad. ‘I went through a red light. I wasn’t concentrating, Sal, I was rushing back to the party… They have a witness.’

My heart is in my mouth. The idiot. What is going to happen?

‘You’re sure that cyclist is okay? Was it a man or a woman?’

‘The cyclist is fine, Sally, she only had a scratch on her wrist.’

‘So why did she go to the hospital if she only had a scratch on her wrist?’

Pulling away from his grip I move a few steps away.

‘I don’t know, Sal, she just did.’ He rubs his hand into his hair and sighs. I can tell he’s playing it down, no one volunteers to spend a day in A and E over a scratch. She must have needed stitches or something. And how did he hit her? In all the years I’ve known Tom he has never had an accident in the car, never even scratched it. Something was distracting him.

Tired of confrontation, I drop the subject, he’s clearly not in the humour of discussing the implications at the moment, the trouble he could be in. Jesus, I hope he doesn’t end up in jail, that’s all I’d need. I’m about to leave the room when I hear the front door opening.

‘Here’s Amber… don’t mention the accident.’ Moving to the sink I turn on the tap and try to act like everything is great. Amber opens the door and glances in at us briefly.

‘I’m heading to bed. Night.’