‘I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must be for you.’

‘I expect you and Bree miss him too.’

Callum looked relieved to share his pain. ‘I still can’t believe he’s gone. And Bree’s been in bits.’

It came as no surprise. Bree had known Jason almost as long as April. She had been an apprentice on the same scheme Jason had applied for when April was away at university. It was through Bree that he’d met Callum a year or two later and they had been best man at each other’s weddings. Unlike their husbands’ close attachment, April’s relationship with Bree was more a matter of circumstance, and they had rarely met separately from the boys. Jason was the one thing that connected them all, and once they had lost him, their friendship had fizzled out. That feeling was never more pronounced than now.

‘Bree says you don’t want to come to our New Year’s Eve party,’ Callum continued. ‘I completely understand. I can’t say it’s my idea of fun turfing drunks out of the house on New Year’s Day but we felt like we had to do something different. Anyway, if you do change your mind, you’d be very welcome.’

April tried to speak but couldn’t. There had been no invitation.

‘I don’t know what else to say, April. We’ll be guided by you and what you want, but please know that we both miss you, Bree especially. She says she’s going to keep calling, and she hopes that one of these days, you’ll answer.’

April’s breaths were shallow and she thought she might faint. With each inhalation, her chest expanded a little more. She had tracked Callum down in the hope that he would break some vow he had made to Jason, but he wasn’t even aware of the truths he was revealing.

Bree hadn’t tried to phone April. It had been Callum who made those first calls to check on her after Jason had died. Bree had sent a couple of messages with the vague promise of meeting up, but there had been no definitive invites – certainly not to a New Year’s Eve party.

She was going to great lengths to avoid April, and not only that, she was lying to Callum about it. Why would she do that? Did she know about Jason’s affair? But if that were the case, why hadn’t Callum been brought into their little circle of trust? Why had Bree – or to use her full name, Sabrina with a fucking S – deceived her husband as Jason had deceived April?

No! screamed a voice inside April’s head.

‘I should go,’ she said, turning away for fear Callum would read her thoughts.