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‘I did.’

‘Ouch.’

‘Indeed. It’s hard for her to accept Dylan’s not what he claimed to be.’

‘How was she with you?’

Mary shrugged. ‘Angry. She blames me – shoot the messenger, and all that – but I think she’ll see it more clearly when the emotion dies down a bit. And honestly if this is what it takes to stop her seeing him then I’m OK with it.’

‘Is she in her room?’

Mary nodded.

‘You know,’ he said. ‘It might not be a bad idea to go and talk to her. At least be there for her. She’s probably feeling a bit alone.’

‘You want to talk to her? If I do it’ll end up in a bickering match.’

He shook his head. ‘I think she needs her mom.’

Mary paused, and then walked upstairs. Sally’s door was closed. She knocked on it.

‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Can I come in?’

There was no reply.

‘Sally?’

Another long pause. Mary had an image of an empty room, the sash window raised, curtains streaming in the wind. She was about to open the door when she heard her daughter’s voice.

‘OK,’ Sally said. ‘You can come in.’

Sally was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. She had been crying. Mary’s heart broke at the sight, but she was also – and she almost hated herself for this – glad. The tears meant Sally had accepted the truth of what was going on.

And that meant that Mary’s job now was to comfort her little girl. She sat next to her, and put her arm around her narrow, bony shoulders.

‘Hey,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No you’re not,’ Sally said. ‘You’re glad. But that’s OK. You were right.’ She leaned into Mary’s embrace and buried her face in her shoulder. ‘I thought he loved me,’ she said, her voice breaking. ‘I believed him.’

‘He said he loved you?’ Mary knew exactly why Dylan would say that; she just hoped Sally hadn’t fallen for it.

She had to ask.

‘Did you two’ – she paused, and before she could continue, Sally looked up at her, her eyes wet with tears. She nodded, and Mary felt a tightness in her chest. It was true; your heart could hurt, and at that moment hers did. How had this happened? Sally was too young for this, far too young, and Mary was going to find a way to make Dylan pay – she bit back the anger. That was for another time. And she was far from blameless. How had she, a mother, allowed this to happen?

‘He said he loved me,’ Sally said, in a quiet, hurt voice. She looked away. ‘I’m so stupid.’

Mary wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her into a hug. ‘Oh, Sally,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. But you’re not stupid, not at all. You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last teenage girl – or full grown woman, for that matter – to fall for the charms of someone like Dylan. I did.’

Sally murmured into her chest, ‘Really? You?’

‘Really. Me. There was a guy in college – everyone had a crush on him. That, by the way, is the first red flag. When everyone wants you, you don’t value anyone. So avoid the ones everyone else is chasing. Anyway, I didn’t, and I thought he felt the same way I did. Turned out he was only interested in one thing.’

She pulled Sally closer.

‘And afterwards, he disappeared. Blanked me in public and didn’t return my calls.’ She shook her head. ‘I felt so stupid, too. But it was a lesson learned.’

She felt like adding: Which I had to learn again, with your dad. Although that wasn’t all bad. I got you and Otis out of it, after all.