Friend of the Family

‘So do I,’ replied Amy.

Another pause.

‘Look, I should let you get back to your friends.’

Josie nodded.

‘Happy Christmas, then.’ Amy held out her hand and Josie took it. It felt formal at first, but then Josie stepped forward and Amy pulled her close.

In that moment, she remembered a fragment of a poem she had once read about friendship. That people came into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. She’d thought that Juliet James was a forever friend, but despite everything, some good had come out of what had happened. She now worked a four-day week, had a better work–life balance, and reminded herself daily that her marriage, her daughter were not to be neglected in the name of ambition.

She didn’t know why Josie Price had come into her life. Perhaps it was to teach her that no one was perfect; that sometimes you just had to forgive. To remember where you came from, not just to think about where you were going.

‘I’d better go,’ said Josie. ‘Say hi to Tilly from me. I miss her a lot.’

Amy squeezed her hand and let her go. Then she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, only opening them when she heard a car stop at the kerb in front of her. David, her handsome husband, was smiling at her through the Range Rover window.

‘You getting in, then?’ he said.

She hopped into the passenger seat, and he fired up the engine.

‘Hope you didn’t get cold while you were waiting,’ he said as she gave

him a quick, grateful kiss on the cheek.

‘I was fine. I bumped into an old friend,’ she said, and didn’t look back.