When Thea opened her front door she was bracing herself for chaos but the hall was much as usual, dusty, with the pictures hanging slightly askew on the walls, where people had knocked them as they went through, but there were no bags of rubbish blocking the door. Although this was a relief, Thea knew that it was just the tip of the iceberg. The kitchen might reveal the seven-eighths of mess below the surface.

But it didn’t. Everything shone and everything was eerily missing. It was either exceptionally tidy, or the anti-clutter burglars had been, taking everything, including the washing-up liquid.

No. There was a note on the table. ‘Dear Thea, I made them clear up. Hope you had a lovely time. How are the puppies?’

Thea suddenly felt very fond of Petal. How she’d managed to bully her other lodgers into producing this gleaming result she could only imagine, but she had and it had probably been very unpleasant for them. But for her, coming back after a comparatively long journey, it was bliss, at least until she needed to find anything.

The kettle was crammed into the cupboard with the saucepans, fairly easy to track down, and Thea filled it.

Just then the telephone rang. Thea’s heart lurched. She had been thinking about the puppies a lot during the journey from Ireland. Lara was a perfectly good mother, but the little one, known now as ‘Little Chap’ needed to be latched on for extra feeds. Susan would do it when she was there, but Rory was unlikely to remember, although Thea had taped a large note reminding him above Lara and the pups. She couldn’t face the thought of bad news.

The answering machine clicked on. ‘It’s Molly. I’ve looked at lots of properties for you, all hopeless. Do you want to do it yourself when you’re back, or shall I just carry on? Give me a ring. By the way, Derek’s thrilled I’ve got a new project.’

Thea sipped her tea contemplatively, relieved it wasn’t Susan. Having Molly on your side was a very mixed blessing. She had bags of energy and enthusiasm and ideas, which was wonderful, but on the other hand she was so bossy, so certain she was right that she was likely to take over completely. Should she politely but firmly insist on taking the list of properties still to view and tell Molly she could manage on her own now?

The second sip of tea brought her to the conclusion that this wasn’t possible. Firstly because she would never have the courage to tell Molly, however nicely, where to get off, and secondly she probably couldn’t manage on her own now. Even with Molly batting for her it was a vast, probably impossible project.

When the phone rang again she picked up her mug and answered it. It would probably be for Petal anyway.