I went to surprise my husband at the hospital with his lunch. His colleague looked at me with tears in his eyes and said: “He hasn’t told you anything, has he?”

four seconds which of them has had a bad morning.

I am extremely good at it. It is the thing I am best at.

And I could not do it in my own bedroom, at three in the morning, with a man I have known for fourteen years sitting two feet away with his back to me.

PART 2

So that Tuesday, after watching him leave with his hospital badge clipped to his pocket, I decided to surprise him.

I made the thing he likes, the one with the peppers. I put a slice of apple pie in a separate box so the pastry would not go soft.

And I tucked a note under the fork.

You don’t have to look after everybody. Let me have a turn.

I want to be honest about that lunch before I go any further, because it comes back later.

It was not only