The old woman looked doubtful. ‘I didn’t see a soul and I’m sure I’d have noticed if there was a stranger in my summer house. Are you quite sure you saw someone, Stina?’

I stared at both of them in disbelief. ‘But you must have – he was right there – seconds ago! How the hell can I have been the only one to see him?’ It was exasperating.

Mrs Barley cocked her head to one side sympathetically. ‘Listen, love, I know this will probably sound daft, but you’re worn out – and your hormones are all over the place. I wonder if your eyes are playing tricks on you. Lack of sleep can do funny things to the brain.’

I felt suddenly angry. Jack may have been a fraction too late, but I couldn’t believe that Mrs Barley hadn’t seen anyone. The man, or ghost, or whatever he was, had been going out of the gate as she turned – surely she couldn’t have missed him?

Jack placed a hand gently on my shoulder. ‘Mrs Barley’s right, you know. I remember Matt saying how confused his wife was after their eldest was born. She was doing all kinds of odd things – dishing out the breakfast cereal and pouring boiling water onto it instead of the milk, putting shaving foam on her toothbrush, wearing her clothes inside out – that sort of thing. It’s surprising how badly sleep deprivation can affect some people, particularly when you’re still getting to grips with looking after a new-born into the bargain.’

They were both looking at me pityingly as if I was some sort of imbecile. Gritting my teeth, I shook him off, tears of frustration welling in my eyes. No matter what I said, I couldn’t persuade Jack that I had definitely seen someone.

But I had a suspicion that Mrs Barley had and – for whatever reason – she wasn’t prepared to admit to it. It gave me a strangely unsettled feeling.

*

Jack returned to work properly when Elodie was just over three weeks old. Since the practice were short-staffed (owing to one of the other vets having to go into hospital for a long-scheduled procedure), he had reluctantly agreed to go in for emergencies during his paternity leave, but for the majority of those first weeks he had been a constant presence at home, which had been an enormous relief to me. He was a little anxious, but I reassured him that I’d be fine. Nursing Elodie, I stood at the door to wave him off, feeling slightly apprehensive, but determined that I wasn’t going to have a meltdown, too.

‘Don’t forget, call me any time if there’s a problem. Anything at all. I don’t want to come home to find you in floods of tears,’ he had instructed me.

I laughed. ‘I think we can manage for a few hours, can’t we, Elodie?’