‘Lovely dinner.’ Naomi plonks herself down on the sofa next to me. ‘You’re so lucky Rav can cook. Jason was totally useless. You’re lucky to have Rav, full stop.’ Her face clouds over, and she picks at the tasselled edges of her cardigan. ‘I really am sorry about this morning, Al. I wouldn’t have gone over to get Mina if I had known you’d be upset.’

‘I was upset, I wasn’t expecting you to be there,’ I say, but I am already thinking about Tara, how Naomi knows her. ‘It was just a bit of a shock, that’s all, especially in light of the things I’ve told you lately.’

‘The house. Rav told me that you found something in the chimney.’

‘Did he.’ The statement comes out flat, and a flicker of rage bursts into flame low down in my belly. ‘You two must have been having quite the cosy chat while I was out.’

‘Not really.’ Naomi looks down, starts to pick at the perfect polish on her nails. ‘He’s worried about you. We both are, to be honest.’

‘I told you everything is fine. I am fine. More importantly, the children are fine. What is it you want, Naomi?’ Something chimes in the back of my mind and I think maybe I know what she wants. She’s the one who put the idea in Rav’s head that the children are not safe with me. Does she think they would be safer with her? Is that it?

‘What I want? I don’t …’ She blinks and gives a slight shake of her head. ‘What do you …? Allie, I don’t want anything.’

‘I know you’re friends with Tara Newman – is she the one who made you think like this? Is she the one who made you think I can’t cope?’

‘Allie, I don’t understand what you mean.’ Naomi is on her feet now, her keys in her hand. ‘I don’t want anything. You’re my friend, you’re important to me, and I want to help you.’ She reaches out a hand but doesn’t touch me. ‘It’s hard work looking after little kids all day, I thought you might want a break. Give you a bit of adult conversation when you’re on your own at home all day. It’s not as if I have anything at home to rush back to, is it? I might as well help you out where I can.’ Her voice thickens and she looks down at the keys in her hand, running the keychain through her fingers.

‘I told you before, I’m fine, I don’t need any help.’

‘I think I should probably go,’ Naomi says. I don’t follow her into the hallway, instead my gaze is fixated on the set of keys in her hand. ‘We can talk tomorrow.’ Something crosses her face, something I can’t quite read.