‘Stop it!’ Grace said, before gulping down a big mouthful of wine.’

‘I beg your par—’

‘Why must you always exaggerate so much?’ Grace was almost certain that their mother wasn’t devastated at all. Most likely, she couldn’t wait to see the back of Grace for all the complaining she did about everything Grace did for her. That was another thing that Grace had gained clarity of thought over since being away from her normal life: that her mother was an ungrateful, selfish cow (there, she had said the ‘c’ word again, if only in her head, Jamie would be pleased), who enjoyed tormenting the only one of her grown-up children who could be bothered to care for her.

‘Well, if you’re going to be like that,’ Bernie huffed.

‘Like what?’ But Grace didn’t wait for an answer, instead she took a deep breath and decided to stop this conversation before it turned into a row and then ruined her evening, and so changed tack with, ‘Look, Bernie. Mum is absolutely fine. I haven’t just left her with a random neighbour as you’re implying. I left her with Jamie, who we have all known for absolutely ever. He is very experienced and he’s actually a real nurse, remember, and Mum likes him, much more than she likes me, so I have no idea why she would be crying on the phone to you.’

‘What is that supposed to mean? What are you saying? That I’m lying?’ Bernie said, indignant.

‘No, that’s not what I’m saying.’ Grace mouthed, ‘sorry’ to Ellis, and he shook his head and smiled in solidarity before picking up his own phone and busying himself with looking at the screen. ‘Bernie, I’m saying that I will call Jamie later and make sure that Mum is OK.’

‘Well, if you had made an effort to call her before now, then you would know that she isn’t. She said that you left two days ago and you haven’t even phoned her once. You can’t just not bother with her, you know.’

‘That’s rich coming from you …’ Grace said, the words spilling out of her mouth before she had a chance to properly think through the consequences. She had wanted to avoid a full-blown argument, if only for her own self-preservation, and now she’d gone and lit the touch paper by confronting Bernie with her ‘lack of bother’ for their mother.

‘How dare you! I love my mother more than anyone. She means the world to me,’ Bernie exploded so passionately that, if Grace hadn’t known better, she might be convinced that her sister truly meant every single word. ‘And don’t you think I wished that I had time to look after her like you do, but I don’t, Grace. I’m a very, very busy person with a responsible job an—’