They were interrupted by a knock at the door, mere inches away, and they both froze on the spot in a tableau of horrified surprise. For a hysterical moment, Maggie thought it might be the landlady of the cottage, Lorna, coming to have a stern word with them about making so much noise, but then Amelia, who was nearest, dodged away and yanked the door open to reveal someone else altogether. There on the doorstep was a forty-something woman with strawberry-blonde hair in a wavy shoulder-length bob and a smiling face that was covered with freckles. Maggie felt extremely hot and embarrassed that this woman had presumably just heard her and Amelia screaming at each other.

‘Hi, I’m Em,’ said the woman. ‘Emma Hughes, your neighbour. From Briar Cottage, or whatever it’s called over there.’

Maggie blinked, trying to assimilate all of this information as the woman pointed behind her. Emma Hughes had a cheery sort of confidence, standing there in a pink-and-white striped T-shirt and pale-blue cropped trousers, and Maggie guessed that this must be Jack’s mum. Great, she thought, trying not to let her dismay show. ‘Hi,’ she managed to croak in reply, mortified to still be in her cotton shortie pyjamas in front of a stranger.

‘Just thought I should pop round and introduce myself, as I gather our offspring have cooked up a plan between them,’ the woman – Emma – went on to Maggie. She was wearing make-up, and had sparkly blue stud earrings and clinking rose-gold bangles on her wrist. What kind of person went to so much effort at nine o’clock in the morning? On holiday?

Emma twinkled her eyes at Amelia in a knowing sort of way. ‘You’re Amelia, I take it. My son is very keen to go off on a jaunt with you.’

Amelia blushed, but Maggie noticed a small, pleased smile play around on her lips as well. Even though if Maggie had been the one to use a word like ‘jaunt’ in front of someone else’s adolescent, Amelia would be pulling sick faces and hissing at her to stop being weird, rather than smiling in quite such a winning way.

‘Yes,’ said Maggie, seeing as her daughter had been struck uncharacteristically dumb. ‘We were just having a discussion about that.’ You probably heard us screeching like banshees from the other side of the door, in fact.