April laughed. ‘I imagine she’ll be otherwise engaged.’

‘Why? What have I missed?’

‘I thought you said you’d spoken to her?’

‘We had a quick chat, no more,’ Tara said. ‘She was expecting a visit from Ella so we didn’t have long. She mostly talked about the last group meeting. She said it was a bit of a disaster.’

‘Jodie was a mess by the end of it.’

Tara had hoped Faith was being overly critical. Justine had said the meeting had been particularly productive. ‘I should have been there.’

‘Oh, you missed quite a bit.’

‘Why?’ Tara said. There was a warning in April’s voice that she didn’t like. ‘Did Faith give Justine a hard time?’

‘Not at all. If anything she was supportive,’ April explained. ‘I hadn’t appreciated how much Justine has been wrestling with her own problems lately. Faith really got her to open up.’

‘Our Faith?’ asked Tara, dismissing any concern she might have for Justine. She had seen her over Christmas, and Justine was fine.

‘Our Faith,’ confirmed April, suppressing a smile. ‘She was in a great mood. It was almost as if someone had put a spring in her step.’

The pause lasted a heartbeat. ‘Wait, are you suggesting she’s seeing someone? Faith?’ Tara asked. She didn’t like to gossip, especially about someone in the group, but this was their friend, and Tara needed to know. ‘Please don’t say it’s Nick.’

Faith and Nick had been a double act towards the end of the Christmas party, downing tequila slammers with some of the others, matching each other drink for drink. To the casual observer, they made a nice couple, but this was Faith. She had made it clear that she didn’t need another half to make her life whole.

‘They’re going on holiday together in a few days,’ April said, her voice low.

‘No way,’ Tara replied. ‘How the hell did that happen?’

‘You know Faith better than I.’

‘I thought I did,’ Tara conceded as the queasiness she had been struggling with since Christmas intensified.

16

Every single person that April encountered at Bree’s party insisted on giving her a hug, whether she knew them or not. She felt like the odd one out, the young widow in the corner dressed in black, but as the evening wended its way towards midnight, her resolve to stay didn’t waver.

‘Can I just say, your husband was one of the best,’ a colleague of Jason’s insisted on telling her. Keith had his hand curled around the neck of a beer bottle and pointed a finger to jab the message home. ‘A class act.’

‘I can agree with you there,’ April said, raising her glass of lime and soda in salute. In her other hand was a small heart-shaped object that had become damp with sweat in her grip.