Stand By Me: The uplifting and heartbreaking best seller you need to read this year. S.D. Robertson

had passed since they’d last seen each other that she’d given up on it ever happening.

      Lisa had been heartbroken when he’d emigrated. Before that she’d always imagined that they would be lifelong friends; that they would visit each other at their respective universities and regularly meet up after graduating, even if they didn’t live in the same place. She’d hoped that as adults they’d get on with each other’s partners, be like honorary aunts and uncles to their respective kids, maybe even take their families on holiday together. It had never occurred to her that Elliot would be drawn to the other side of the world, forcing their lives apart.

      And even after he’d left for Australia, Lisa had persuaded herself that he wouldn’t be gone long: that the pull of home would bring him back before she knew it. This had been her way of dealing with the loss, essentially by burying her head in the sand, although as the years passed and he didn’t return, she had no choice but to accept the truth.

      Funnily enough, Elliot’s absence had actually played a role in bringing her and Mike together. They’d met as teacher-training postgrads and had been good mates for some time before they eventually became a couple. Mike was the first really close male friend she’d had since El had left. He was nothing like him in terms of looks or personality. He was much more of a typical alpha male, for a start, and yet something about the dynamic between them was reminiscent of her relationship with Elliot.

      Part of this was to do with how much fun they had together and how comfortable she felt with him. There were no games; she could just be herself. But it was more than that. It was like their differences were perfectly aligned to complement each other, making for a yin-yang type connection. The same could be said of her and Elliot as kids, although in that case she’d been the dominant one, whereas with Mike, who was a year older, the roles were reversed. Perhaps this explained why the latter friendship had been the one to develop into romance.

      The reason they’d got married so quickly was more prosaic: an unplanned pregnancy while they were both still on the course. Not that they’d ever told Ben he was an accident. Her son knew that she’d been heavily pregnant with him at the time of the wedding, but the official line was that the ceremony had been planned before that.

      Would they have got married eventually anyway, even without the pregnancy? Lisa thought so. They’d been madly, passionately in love ever since their friendship had blossomed into romance. And even now, with Mike stuck in a rut having lost his way career-wise, she still loved him deeply. He wasn’t only the father of her children. He was her husband: for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.

      That wasn’t to say it was easy at the moment. It was anything but. Just look how badly things had gone between them at the restaurant last night.

      Locking the front door and turning off the lights downstairs, Lisa considered how many family meals had also been ruined by arguments since work had got so messed up for Mike. He’d been very happy in his job as a deputy head teacher. He’d been a natural in the role. The way things had turned sour so quickly, so forcefully, Lisa could totally understand how her husband had been broken by that. But then for everything to go wrong again – for him to screw up so spectacularly in another job, particularly one so beneath his abilities – that was the cruellest blow of all.

      Not that any of this excused Mike’s behaviour in Manchester yesterday. But it did go some way towards explaining it. The big question now was how to help him move forward; to find a new purpose in life. Because no matter how happy Lisa felt at this moment, following a lovely evening with her old friend, she knew the feeling was temporary.

      She was also painfully aware of how everything they’d been through as a family of late had impacted on the kids. She’d seen the worried looks on their faces over some of the more fiery arguments between her and Mike. Lisa did try to shelter them from these things, but it wasn’t always possible when they all lived under one roof, especially when Mike could be so volatile.

      She felt that Ben and Chloe had become more withdrawn at home, sharing less of what was going on in their own lives. She didn’t like that at all. She wanted to be there for them whenever they needed her, and hoped that spending time together while school was out this summer might improve things. If only they’d been able to afford to go on holiday.

      Mike had been in one of his better moods this evening, but Lisa knew from experience how quickly that could change: how fast he could sink into depression. Luckily, he’d been the one to eat humble pie after last night’s catastrophe. She had feared he would take the hump over her throwing the red wine over him and leaving him alone there. But waking up in bed this morning with little to no memory of how he’d got home had been quite the reality check. He knew he’d drunk far too much and he’d apologised profusely for that and his boorish behaviour.

      He’d been tiptoeing around her since then, although she could sense some tension regarding the arrival of El. It probably didn’t help Mike knowing, but not remembering, that he’d helped the taxi driver carry him up to bed. But of more significance was the way her old friend had turned up unannounced, totally out of the blue, in great shape, oozing confidence and success.

      Lisa wasn’t stupid. She could see how this might be threatening to her husband, especially in his current circumstances. She hoped he’d be able to deal with it. Elliot probably wouldn’t be around for long, anyway. He’d remained vague about the length of his stay so far, or the exact reason for it, but as fantastic as it was to see him, Lisa couldn’t imagine him having the spare time to be here for more than a few days. Hence she was keen to see as much as possible of him while she could.

      As Lisa trudged upstairs for the night, she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her. When she looked in on Ben and Chloe, they were both fast asleep, or at least doing an excellent job of pretending to be. Mike, on the other hand, was sitting up in bed with his nose in a paperback.