Her mobile stopped. Romy continued. And then the landline started ringing. And all the time, Catrin and Solomon stared at each other. An impasse.

Eventually Sol broke free. ‘I’ll see to Romy. You answer that.’

‘The machine can get it.’ It would probably be her mother, and she didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, not with this unfinished business still hanging in the air.

A click and a beep and a crackle came from the answer machine. And then a voice, distant, choked and tearful.

‘Hello? Are you there? It’s Jude.’

Catrin snapped out of her mood and grabbed the phone. ‘Jude? Yes, sorry, are you …?’

‘He died,’ Judith gasped. ‘My dad’s gone, Cat.’

And she broke down. Over two thousand miles away, Catrin’s best friend was struck by grief and there was nothing she could do except offer words of sympathy down a crackling phone line to Cyprus.

‘Oh Jude, no. Poor George, poor lovely George.’

‘Anything to drink?’ the air steward asked.

‘Coffee, please,’ said Catrin, holding up the small plastic cup. She’d just finished a lunch of ratatouille and rice, accompanied by a rock-hard bread roll, followed by a chocolate mousse, all squashed into compartments on a neat plastic tray. It wasn’t the best meal she’d had in her life, but the novelty of being alone on a flight was more important than haute cuisine right now.

It had been Sol’s idea that she should fly out for the funeral. Liz and Huw had offered to have Romy, and Sol had arranged for a locum to come into the surgery to cover Cat’s appointments. ‘You need to be with your friend,’ he said and he hugged her, the subject of another baby conveniently pushed aside as they dealt with the more pressing issue of Judith’s bereavement.

‘And it might do you good, y’know … to take yourself away from home for a bit. Give you a bit of thinking time, a bit of perspective maybe.’

‘I’m not going to change my mind, Sol,’ she said stridently.

‘Christ, you’ve lost it,’ he said. And went to bed.

When Catrin left for Cardiff airport two days later, she and Sol had barely spoken since their last row. Just practical exchanges to do with flight times and childcare. So getting on the plane had been a relief. Because she felt like she was running away. And this had secretly thrilled her. For the first time in her adult life, she felt a sense of freedom, of rebellion.

Lana took her to the airport. Having stayed on in Coed Celyn after Romy’s birthday to spend some time with her family, she was keen to help.

‘Are you sure I can’t persuade you to come too?’ Catrin said when they’d parked up at Cardiff International.

‘Aw babe, I did think about it, but I just worry it’s early days, y’know?’ Lana replied. ‘I mean it’s not like me an’ Jude are full-on friends again, is it?’

‘I know, but she emailed you! She seemed to want to get things back on track?’ pleaded Catrin.