I couldn’t wait to get back to the main room, and I could see by my mother’s face she felt the same. She wandered around in a trance while I rested on my stool, because you’re not allowed to sit on any of the furniture. My mother came over and squeezed the knot of my scarf and hovered her hand absentmindedly over my head without touching it. I knew she was thinking about Monday. I knew she was wishing she could forget about Monday and sit on one of the sofas, take a book down from the shelf, and read it leaning on a red cushion by the fireplace built in to the rock, and whenever she felt like it, she could go to the glass doors and presto: her very own waterfall rushing down.

“Could you live here?” said my mother, to no one in particular.

Robin came up from behind and kissed her hair. “You could.”

“But could you?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’ve always loved this place,” said my mother. “Ever since my parents brought us when we were kids. There’s something incredibly peaceful about it.”

“Except for the noise,” I pointed out. “I’d want to switch it off sometimes. Wouldn’t you?”

“I guess so,” said my mother. “It might get on your nerves, in the long run. If you know there’s no stopping it.”

We made our slow way back to the parking lot, having taken leave of Laura and the group. We decided to skip the viewing point. We had seen that view on every single fridge magnet and bookmark in the gift shop. Besides, I was exhausted, and we had the long drive home.

I didn’t say this, because my mother doesn’t know I do it, but on the way back I was thinking there would be one advantage of living over a noisy waterfall. You wouldn’t have to take a shower every time you wanted to have a long, private cry.

Maddy,

These questions you ask me! My boys want to know facts and how things work. I am maybe finding out how different girls are. Part of it is because you are almost an adult and thinking about all the important things, like who are we, what are we made of, what are we like? Am I a loner? My work requires me to be on my own a lot. But I am also part of a team. A family is another kind of team. Though there are times I could do with more time to myself! To be honest I think I might be the odd one out. Erica is very sociable, she loves talking and meeting with people, and the boys have lots of friends. Whereas I like my own company.