‘Tonya saw Laurel with the letter,’ Mac said shortly. ‘Came home near to tears, wanting to know what the hell was going on. I had to tell her something so I said I was apologising for standing by while Amie bullied Laurel. Tonya seems to have swallowed it but was really disappointed in me.’ He paused to finish his beer. ‘She accepts everyone does something shitty when they’re a teenager but writing to Laurel without confiding in her about it first, that seems to have really upset her. She accepts I’ve apologised and it’s up to Laurel now, but she says it’s caused a trust issue between us. She needs time off from me; hence the sudden visit to her family.’

Grady couldn’t hold back a snort. ‘With respect, Tonya’s not the victim here.’

Mac forehead crinkled miserably. ‘I know, but, fuck, Grady, she doesn’t know the whole truth. I couldn’t look into my wife’s eyes and admit what I did. She might never feel the same about me. And I’m not sure you ever will either, now you know,’ he added.

Grady let the silence between them hang. ‘Let it Snow’ ended and the Middletones received a round of applause – neither Grady nor Mac joined in – before they began ‘Mistletoe and Wine’. Finally, he said, ‘Mac, I’m … involved with Laurel.’ He wanted to tell his brother about Laurel still suffering nightmares but knew she’d hate him exposing her vulnerability to Mac, of all people. ‘I had the hots for her when we were kids and I do now.’ He hoped Laurel would forgive his directness but this was his brother. ‘I’m unwillingly in the middle of this, pulled two ways.’

Mac gazed at him and Grady thought he caught the glint of tears in his brother’s eyes. ‘I couldn’t be sorrier,’ Mac said. He sucked in a breath that audibly wavered. ‘But there’s something else. Ruben doesn’t have an ex-wife called Francesca.’

It took Grady several seconds to close his gaping mouth and order his thoughts enough to speak. ‘That makes no sense.’

Mac frowned. ‘I know. I tracked Ruben down through LinkedIn because I thought maybe he’d want to know what his ex was saying.’

And warn him that the truth’s out, Grady supplemented silently.

‘Apparently, he lives and works in Lancashire and has never had a relationship with anyone called Francesca. He’s with a woman called Elena,’ Mac continued. ‘They have two kids. And as for his mother being in The Three Fishes to see you with Laurel, she hasn’t lived in the village for years. She moved to a retirement flat in Norfolk when his dad died.’