‘That always happens to me,’ said Gilly, taking the polystyrene cup. The tea in it was tepid, but she drank it anyway. She realised that Helena would be opening the Prosecco soon and she might well miss the opportunity to share it.

‘And I hope you won’t be disappointed,’ said Leo, ‘but I’m afraid I’ve got to go. I was intending to stay a bit longer, but something has come up.’

Relief made Gilly smile warmly. ‘Oh no, don’t worry about it. It was lovely of you to come at all.’

‘You’ll give my love to Helena, won’t you? Tell her how much I like her scarves.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Gilly warmly, ignoring the thought that if he liked them so much he could have bought one.

Helena reappeared the moment Leo had gone. ‘If you really like him, Mum, I will make an effort. It’s just seeing him gives me flashbacks to that time we nearly died.’

Gilly was aware her daughter really meant ‘the time Leo nearly killed us’. ‘I don’t like him but Cressida and Martin seem to adore him! It wasn’t my idea to invite him to this.’ She omitted to mention William; Helena had enough to think about. ‘I should have asked him for a lift home really, but I couldn’t bring myself to. He’d have taken it as encouragement.’

‘We could tell Martin to hurry up,’ said Helena. ‘I will if you’d rather not.’

Gilly was well aware that Helena thought that Martin and Cressida bullied her a bit and her daughter wasn’t entirely wrong.

‘Or Jago could do it!’ said Helena. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. I know he’s only coming to support me. I gave him one of my free tickets. This is such a brilliant event,’ she went on. ‘I’ve earned far more than my entrance fee although I have also sold practically everything I’ve made so God knows what I’ll have to take to Woolly World at the end of the month.’

‘I could always give you back all the rugs and throws you’ve made for me over the years. Not that I don’t love them but—’

‘Brilliant idea, Mum! I can remake them for you after the show! Oh, and here’s Jago.’

As Jago drove Gilly home in Helena’s car she thought what a nice man he was. Why did she think there was something a bit odd going on between him and Helena? They should be all over each other. Still, she decided, maybe she should sort her own love life out before starting on her daughter’s.

Chapter Twenty

The show was over and everyone was packing up when Jago reappeared.