She was getting ready to go out for the evening when her mum finally called sounding flustered. ‘Dad’s just told me you saw Freddy Taylor?’

Taylor, that was it. The Taylor family. ‘That’s right.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He asked if you were still together and made some comment about some drama from the past that seemed to involve us. What’s going on, Mum?’

‘Can I come up and see you? I can drive over tomorrow morning?’

Katie felt dread in the pit of her stomach. If her mum didn’t want to have the conversation over the phone it must be bad. ‘Can’t you just tell me now, Mum? It’s starting to stress me out.’

‘I’d rather talk to you face to face. I’ll head over first thing. What’s an acceptable time for a fresher to meet their mother in the morning?’

‘I’ve got a few induction things I have to go to actually, but I can meet for lunch? Midday?’

‘Okay, text me the address of where you want to meet and I’ll see you there.’

‘Mum, is everything okay?’

‘It’s fine, love, it’s fine. Please don’t worry.’

Katie put the phone down and continued applying mascara to her eyelashes. Whatever this big secret was, it would have to wait until tomorrow but she didn’t like the sound of it. Not one bit. She thought of her dad’s bizarre warning to stay away from Freddy Taylor. She couldn’t believe that he had actually tried to forbid her from seeing him, it was like something out of a soap opera and so unlike her father. He was one of the most easy-going people you could ever meet. In any event, she didn’t think it mattered as she had no intention of seeing Freddy again.

She heard a knock on her door and Freya popped her head round. ‘Ready to go?’ she asked.

Katie gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror and grabbed her bag. ‘Let’s do it.’

The revelations would have to wait for now.

‘Angie and Jack Taylor were our neighbours in Pemberton Road.’

Katie’s mother was clutching her coffee nervously with both hands. Katie nodded for her to continue.

‘They moved in when you were about five, Tom was seven. We became friends, close friends. They had four children and you and Tom used to play with the younger two, Ellie and Freddy, all the time. You were as thick as thieves.’ She smiled at the memory. ‘We even had a gate put in between the two gardens. Do you remember? We used to wander in and out of it all the time. It was one of the happiest times of my life.’

Her mum took a deep breath. ‘Then one day it came out that Dad and Angie had been having an affair. It was a very brief thing, over before it started really.’

Katie stared at her mother, open-mouthed. Had she just heard correctly?

‘As you can imagine I was furious when I found out. I was hurt and humiliated and I couldn’t believe that Dad – or Angie – could have done that to me and Jack. You’re old enough to hear the truth now so I’ll give it to you straight. The reason your father and I stayed together at first was because of you and your brother. I didn’t want to break our family up.’