‘I am angry,’ Jack replied. ‘And I’m hurt. But right now you, and your siblings, are our number one priority. There’s plenty of time for Mum and me to talk things through but first we need to make sure that you’re okay.’

‘Can I go and live with Dad?’ Indie asked, directing the question at her mother.

‘We’ve discussed it and we’ve decided that it’s better if you all stay here, in your own home. Dad will be over all the time to see you.’

‘But I want to be with Dad.’

‘I understand but there’s not enough room at Uncle Sam’s and it’s too far to go to school every day. It’s just for now, Indie, until we work out something more permanent.’

‘Like a divorce?’

She saw her parents looking at each other before Angie replied, ‘I don’t know.’

Indie opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again. What was there left to say? She wanted to shout and scream at her mother, to tell her that she was an absolute cow, but her calm, brutal honesty had taken the wind out of her sails. She had another thought. ‘Have you spoken to Sophie?’

‘No.’

‘Are we going to have to move house again now?’

‘I hope not.’

‘Bit close to home, Mum, your lover living next door.’

Shouting erupted from the den and Jack stood up and dashed off to investigate. As he left the room, Benji sat down beside Indie in his empty seat. Angie looked at them both and then leaned forward and said urgently, ‘Obviously Ellie and Freddy don’t know anything about this and it has to stay that way, okay? They’re too young to understand.’

‘What are you going to tell them then? About Dad moving out.’

‘Just that he’s staying with Uncle Sam for a while.’

‘What about Tom and Katie though? They’re, like, best friends. Are they still going to be allowed to hang out?’

Angie looked crushed. ‘I don’t know, Indie.’

Jack returned to the kitchen with Ellie and Freddy in tow and Angie plastered a bright smile on her face and stood up to start making breakfast. Indie remained seated for a moment, watching as her mum cracked eggs into a bowl and Jack set the table, and it was so horribly fake and wrong that she couldn’t bear it any longer.

‘I’m going to have a shower. I don’t want breakfast,’ she said. No one stopped her. As she turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick message to Daisy. SOS. Can I come over? Family gone mad.

The sooner she was out of this mad house, the better.

19

Sophie’s first instinct when she saw Indie standing on her porch was to slam the door in her pretty little face. But then she took in the teenager’s terrified expression and took pity on her.

‘Come in,’ she said.

Indie followed her into the living room and sat down on the sofa, fidgeting nervously with her hands. For a while nobody spoke, until Sophie said impatiently, ‘Come on then, out with it.’