She switched off her engine, grabbed her bag and got out of the car. She was sure this place would feel like home at some point. It was much bigger than the place they’d had in London, and had left them money in the bank. It was a lovely house — no doubt about it — but she didn’t yet feel that connection, the sense of returning where she belonged. She wondered how much of that Mark felt, too. It would go some way to explaining the frosty atmosphere around the place. She wasn’t blameless in that regard, but she wasn’t about to take full responsibility either.

Her instinctive reaction was to believe things had been simpler in London. But had they really? There’d still been other complications, but they were largely different ones. Still, she’d been able to be honest. She’d been open — at least with Mark. And she hadn’t had to feel the guilt of holding back. At least, that’s what was on the surface. That’s what she could tell herself. It was safer than facing the truth. Safer than admitting — to herself — all of the secrets and things she’d been hiding. Suppressing. She’d hoped the move to Rutland would give her the fresh start she needed. She’d had visions of feeling freer, more able to open up and release herself from everything that had been holding her back. Time hadn’t helped, and she’d banked everything on physical distance. So far, at least, one hundred miles didn’t seem to be cutting it.

The truth followed her everywhere. She swallowed hard as the realisation struck her that she could never escape it, because escape wasn’t possible. You can’t escape what’s inside you. It comes with you, wherever you go, spreading its trail of destruction further. Sooner or later she was going to have to face up to that.

She stepped into the house and closed the door behind her. She could see Mark in the living room, but he hadn’t called out to her in his usual way. Even though they hadn’t made eye contact or said a word to each other, the atmosphere was clear. She put her bag down and walked into the living room, keen to clear the air in the simplest, most painless way possible.

‘Alright?’ she said, sitting down on the sofa.

‘Where’ve you been?’ Mark asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

‘You know where I’ve been. I’ve been at work.’

‘I know where you said you were going to be, yeah.’

‘Oh come on, Mark. We’ve been through this. I can’t give you every detail of my schedule, especially not when I’m on a major case. You know why I had to bend the truth the other day.’