April listened out for the mutters of dissent, but they didn’t come. Other members had been canvassed, but no one else had been foolhardy enough to take on the role. ‘I’m not trying to fill Tara’s shoes,’ she said.

‘Except when it comes to supplying the cakes,’ Nadiya replied.

‘It’s one of the benefits of living over a cake shop, and technically, they’re still from Tara,’ explained April. ‘What I will be doing is taking over the accounts, so I’ll be pestering you for subscriptions from now on, giving Justine more time to concentrate on the newsletter and organising events.’

‘And on that note,’ Justine added, ‘I need to gauge opinion on whether or not we have a Christmas party this year.’

‘Why wouldn’t we?’ asked Steve.

There were some nervous glances around their fragmented circle. No one wanted to point out the dangers of encouraging social interaction beyond the confines of the village hall.

‘No decisions have to be made today,’ Justine said when Steve’s question remained unanswered. ‘We’re entering a new phase as far as the support group is concerned. None of us can ignore the past, we wouldn’t be here if we could, but we can learn from it. We let go of what we can’t change and nurture what makes us stronger.’

There was a spattering of applause around the room, something April had never seen before and it gave her the courage to pick up where Justine had left off. ‘And if we’re all ready to start the meeting, I’d like to introduce our newest member,’ she said, offering a smile to the man sitting on her right. ‘For those who haven’t had a chance to say hello yet, this is Josh.’

The introduction wasn’t entirely necessary. Josh had been unable to avoid the media attention surrounding Faith’s trial. Some blamed him for setting Nick down a path of self-destruction, but Josh had weathered the storm, and for all the sponsors who had withdrawn support from his charity, there had been others to take their place.

‘Hi,’ Josh said with a nervous wave. He cleared his throat. ‘I’d like to start with an apology. I said some unkind things about this group, but having spoken at length to Tara and Justine, and more recently with April, I’ve come to realise that it’s too easy to judge from the outside. I was wrong to question the support you offer each other.’

‘Good to hear it,’ said Steve. His tone had an edge to it and April knew he wouldn’t be the only one with reservations. It was sad to witness, but the group wasn’t as trusting as it had been when she had joined. Faith had left a festering wound and, although the last meeting had gone some way to excise the infection, it hadn’t been removed completely.