‘It’s very possible she’s going to end up muddy,’ April said as they watched Dexter run rings around the girls, ‘but I’m not sure it would put her off.’

As they continued their walk, Tara said, ‘Now tell me everything that’s happening with you. Faith phoned yesterday and mentioned you’d worked out who Jason was seeing. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you that night. I was working late at the shop and I didn’t notice the calls until it was too late. I feel awful about it.’

‘You shouldn’t. Faith was there, and she was brilliant,’ April insisted. ‘With everything else you’ve been dealing with, I’m glad you didn’t answer. The last thing you needed was me ugly crying.’

Tara couldn’t look at her friend. She was embarrassed to be the subject of her concern. She was meant to be stronger than this. Pulling back her shoulders, she asked, ‘And how are you feeling now?’

‘I’m fi—’ April began only to stop before the lie had fully formed. She lifted her face to the bright sun and her breath caught on the chill wind. ‘Actually, I feel like crap, but I’m working through it.’

‘Tell me what I can do, just name it,’ Tara said, desperate to make up for her absence. ‘I can go and beat this woman up if you want, or how about I hire a hit man?’

Her threat had the desired effect and April laughed. ‘And there I was thinking my plan was extreme.’

The playfulness disappeared from Tara’s voice when she asked, ‘And what would that be?’

‘I’m going to a party on New Year’s Eve.’

‘Oh, right,’ Tara said, immediately wondering if April’s plan involved taking revenge on Jason by spending the night with someone else. It was the kind of advice Faith would have offered.

She wanted to ask April outright if the invitation had come from Nick. Tara had been watching him closely at the Christmas party, convinced that he had one of her friends in his sights and worried that he would choose the one least equipped to deal with the attention. It looked at one point as if April had been drawn like a moth to his flame, but they had drifted apart by the end of the night. Or had that been a smoke screen?

‘Will you be going with anyone?’ she asked.

‘I’ll be on my own, but it’s a house party with people I know,’ said April with a note of bitterness. ‘Actually, they’re more Jason’s friends than mine.’

Ahead of them, Molly and Lily had reached the end of the road and were starting down the path that led across the headland fields to Hale Head. Neither of them looked back.