‘Oh, everyone edits the past,’ Faith explained. ‘I lost both my parents before I was twenty, and I would never have come to terms with it if I thought only the best of them. Yes, there were good times, but Dad was a bastard, especially to Mum. He wore her down to a shadow of herself and when he died, that shadow dissolved into nothing. Weak and broken, that’s how I choose to remember them, because it pushed me to be stronger. That was my choice.’

‘I don’t know if I can do it, Faith. I’m not you,’ April said. She had dropped her hands and was playing with the white mark on her finger where her wedding band had been.

‘Maybe you need to find out exactly how much you should be hating Jason before you decide.’

‘Talk to Bree? What if she denies it?’

‘You could always ask her husband. He might have his own suspicions.’

‘No, no he doesn’t have a clue, and I can’t tell him,’ April said, brow furrowing. ‘It’s bad enough dealing with my own feelings.’

Faith shrugged. ‘The threat of telling him might be enough. Use it as a bargaining tool.’

The silence that followed was broken only by Faith’s teeth chattering. The rain had stopped, but the temperature was dropping and the damp hair on the back of her neck felt like icy fingers.

‘I should let you get home to dry off,’ April said.

Checking the time on her phone, Faith said, ‘Yes, and we’ll be locked in if we don’t move soon. Are you going to be OK?’

‘I think so.’

‘This might be your fight, but you’re not on your own.’

‘Thank you,’ April replied. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you and Tara. There’s no one else I can talk to.’

‘What about other members of the support group? You seemed to be getting on well with Nick,’ Faith suggested casually.

April groaned. ‘I know you were trying to set me up with him, but please don’t,’ she said. ‘You do realise he’s more interested in you than he is in me?’

‘Do you think?’

April’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t act daft, Faith. It doesn’t suit you,’ she said. ‘Just promise me you’ll let him down gently.’

Faith smiled. ‘I promise.’

After climbing into her Range Rover, Faith peeled off her wet jacket and switched the heating to the highest setting. As she waited for the windows to demist, she dialled Nick’s number.

‘So is it a yes or a no?’ he asked.

Checking the rear-view mirror, Faith raked her shrivelled fingers through her hair. ‘I’m drenched right through and all I want to do right now is soak in a hot bath.’

‘Sounds like you’ve had an eventful evening,’ Nick said. ‘I could put our booking back to eight thirty, or nine if it helps.’