‘She’s a massive hippie,’ Daff says. ‘I unwrapped her present to me last year, and it was two tiny bells to be used, in her words, “to mark the differences between ritual ceremonies”. I said to her: “Kat, seriously, do you think I’ll be doing enough ritual ceremonies to need special bells to distinguish between them?”’ I hear the potato pan clattering as Mum shakes with laughter. ‘And then when she left on Boxing Day, she just picked them up and took them with her, saying, “Well, if you’re not going to use them …”’

I’m about to push the door open and walk in when Mum stops laughing and says: ‘You know, I’ll never forget the present Ben got me the Christmas after his dad left.’

The chopping noises die out suddenly, and I wonder if Daphne has broken off to give Mum her full attention. My heart starts thumping. I hardly ever heard her talk about Dad. As a kid, it was always me that seemed to bring him up. It feels odd hearing her even mention him.

‘He must have been … what was it? Ten?’ Mum continues. ‘And everything was a bit up in the air at that time. Things were quite tough, really, on both of us. Anyway. In the run-up to Christmas, I started to notice things going missing around the house. Only little things – like my stapler, or the Sellotape, or the pad of Post-its I kept by the phone; stuff like that. But I didn’t think anything of it, because there was so much else to think about. And then, come Christmas morning, there were three presents for me under the tree from Ben. I unwrapped them, and there they were: my stapler, my Sellotape, and the pad of Post-its.’

There’s silence for a second, and then both of them burst out laughing.

‘Oh my God,’ Daphne says. ‘OK, I think you’ve trumped me there. That’s worse than the bells.’

‘I know.’ Mum snorts. ‘But you know, the funny thing was, I was genuinely really pleased to see them. I told him, “I’ve been looking for these everywhere!” and he was so delighted with himself. I hadn’t been expecting him to get me anything – he was only ten years old. I suppose he was just trying to cheer me up, and that was the only way he could think to do it. It’s silly, really. But it made me laugh and feel genuinely happy at a time when I honestly didn’t think I was capable of either.’

There’s another silence, and then I hear Daphne say, very quietly, ‘That’s really sweet.’