‘The thing is,’ she insisted finally, ‘no matter how much I want to, I can’t. You remember I’m in business with my daughter? We’re right in the middle of this major exhibition, the biggest thing we’ve had for ages. Liz . . .’ She stopped, her voice sounding suddenly sharp. ‘Liz, what are you doing?’

‘Calling Sophie,’ was the matter-of-fact reply in the background. ‘Hi Sophie, it’s Liz here. The thing is, your mum’s just had this great invitation to go and see her two old school friends in France and she doesn’t think it’s fair to you. Yes, that’s what I thought, and I could help you out with any boring admin. Here, I’ll hand you over.’ She held her mobile out. ‘It’s Sophie. She says of course you should go.’

‘Liz, you wretch. I’ll kill you!’ laughed Jo. ‘Hi, darling. Yes, Steph invited me and Meredith’s over there too.’

‘That settles it, Mum. Of course you must go,’ her daughter repeated. ‘Look, Mum –’ Sophie’s voice was unusually serious – ‘for perfectly understandable reasons you’ve been cocooning yourself away. But it’s time you took a few risks. You mustn’t let what Dad gets up to define you! Go to France with your friends. You need an adventure. I can cope fine with the exhibition.’

‘But, darling,’ Jo replied hesitantly, ‘the exhibition’s one thing . . . but what about the gruesome wedding?’

‘I can just as easily run her over when you’re away as when you’re here!’ Jo could hear her daughter’s laughter, and felt a little reassured. ‘I’m kidding! I’ll be busy flogging paintings to art galleries and making our sponsors happy little bunnies. Sad, because it means I’ll have to miss the nuptial celebrations, which quite frankly is probably much better for my head; and then when the show closes, maybe I’ll pop out and join you!’

‘Soph, you’re wonderful!’ Delight struggled with guilt, and delight won. ‘OK, then. I’ll go.’

She handed the phone back to Liz. ‘Good on you, girl,’ Liz congratulated Sophie. ‘And I mean it about the boring admin. I used to be quite a whizz in my day.’

‘I expect you heard all that!’ Jo explained to her two school friends, but her words were lost in all the clapping and jumping up and down that seemed to be greeting her response.

‘Jo, that’s so bloody brilliant!’ Steph managed to reply. ‘Just let me know when you’re arriving. David’ll come and meet you.’

‘What a luxury!’ Being met at airports was one of those rare treats Jo missed from her marriage. Not that Mark had ever done it unless forced to. ‘I’ll look up flights,’ Jo suggested, full of excitement. ‘Does any day suit you especially?’

‘Tuesdays are usually quiet for some mysterious reason.’

‘Then I’ll come on Tuesday. How absolutely lovely!’