Connie gave a hysterical laugh. “I never thought we’d be sitting around plotting a murder.”

“I know. It’s all rather exciting. Is it too late to consider a career change, do you think? Maybe I could recruit my hiking group.” Peggy closed the dishwasher. “We could call ourselves the Wrinkled Assassins. Our calling card could be a set of false teeth.”

But this time Connie was too upset to laugh. She knew she wasn’t handling this situation well, and she also knew she had to do better, for Milly’s sake but also for her own. She reached for her phone.

“I can’t carry on like this.”

Peggy looked alarmed. “You’re not planning to confront Richard, are you? We mustn’t alert him to our animosity. It might be a good idea to make sure we both have strong alibis.”

“I’m not planning murder. I’m trying to work out the best way to handle this situation. I’m searching the internet for tips on how to stop worrying about your adult child.”

“Good luck with that.” Her mother sat down next to her, and this time her expression was serious. “You’ve been a wonderful mother to Milly, particularly over the past eighteen months, but it’s time to put other things in your life. When did you last go to choir practice?”

Connie looked at her. “The week before Richard walked out. I couldn’t commit to rehearsals in case I was needed to look after Zoe.”

“Your book club?”

“I haven’t been reading much, so there wasn’t any point in going. Also I didn’t really want people asking me about Milly.” And although the group had carried on emailing her in the beginning and sending her the book choices, those emails had tailed off.

She squirmed a little as she faced the truth. Her mother was right. In her efforts to support Milly, she had stopped doing things that she used to enjoy.

She’d let friendships dwindle because everyone else’s children seemed to be soaring through life with no problems and she’d found the conversations difficult. And it wasn’t that she wished problems on other people—far from it—but somehow hearing how smoothly everything was going for someone else’s child made her ache even more for her own.

Peggy was watching her. “You need to put something in your life that doesn’t have anything to do with Milly and Zoe. Something that’s just for you.”

Connie looked at her blankly. She was too tired and stressed to even think about herself. “What?”

“I don’t know. Yoga?”

“Yoga? Is that a joke?”