‘Blimey. And have you?’

‘Have I what?’

‘Cheated on her.’

‘Never.’

‘I’m so sorry, Jack.’

‘Me too.’

Alan appeared then, stopping abruptly in the doorway when he saw Jack. Sophie wondered if there was going to be a showdown and panicked about the children walking in on them, but Jack ignored him.

He hugged Sophie and made to leave. ‘Call me, any time,’ he said.

She nodded. ‘You too.’

She watched him go, considering what he had just told her. There was no doubt that Jack was a flirt and she could understand why it may have upset Angie in the past. Was he telling the truth about never having cheated on her? She thought back to the holiday when they’d been messing around in the pool. She couldn’t be the only woman he’d turned the charm on with like that. But when she imagined him as a serial adulterer it just didn’t feel right. Jack was like a harmless kid, thoughtless sometimes but not manipulative. Despite his fooling around – and he undoubtably sailed too close to the wind sometimes – Jack was loyal. His wife and children came first. Unlike her own husband, and Jack’s wife for that matter.

‘Sophie, we haven’t got much time,’ Alan said urgently. ‘The kids will be down soon. What do you want me to do? Shall I leave? Shall I stay? Just tell me and I’ll do it.’

She didn’t even look at him. ‘You’ll stay, for now,’ she said. ‘Tom and Katie mustn’t know anything is wrong, do you understand?’

‘Okay. But what about us?’

‘I don’t know.’ It was all she could give him.

When the children emerged a few minutes later, she planted a smile on her face and set about making them breakfast. Inside she was miserable, not helped by the throbbing headache brought on by tequila, whisky and lack of sleep. She felt so wretched that she didn’t even know how she was going to make it through the day, let alone the next few weeks.

She knew that some women in her position would have kicked Alan out immediately. Others would have gone round and had it out with Angie. She didn’t want to do either. She just wanted to go back to bed, curl up into a ball and hide away from the world. Why aren’t I raging? Maybe it was because Alan had surrendered so quickly. Or maybe she was still in shock. When Alan came down from having a shower, she told him that she wasn’t feeling well and was going back to bed.

‘No problem, I’ll take the kids to the park for a kickabout,’ he said.

She kissed the tops of Tom and Katie’s heads and wearily walked up the stairs. As she climbed into bed, she heard them moving around, gathering coats, hats and gloves, the chattering in the hall followed by the front door slamming and then, finally, silence.

Should she call someone? Her mum, Eve maybe? But she didn’t feel like it. She wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about what had happened. She started googling pointless things on her phone, typing in Should I forgive my cheating husband? and Why do people cheat? None of the results brought any comfort or answers. Only she could decide what happened next and the truth was she didn’t know. She loved Alan. She hated Alan. She couldn’t imagine ever forgiving him. She couldn’t imagine ever being without him. She thought of Tom and Katie and the effect it would have on them if they split up. It was just too much to process.