‘It’d suit me better to come later – elevenish? I could do with coffee and a bath first.’

Jake was flustered suddenly. ‘Look – don’t come if it’s a bother.’

‘I want to.’

‘Great.’ He smiled at her. ‘I’ll see you later, then. And Olivia – if Krish wants to drop in this afternoon, that’s fine by me.’

Olivia nodded, grudgingly. ‘I’ll tell him.’

Anna left as soon as she could after Jake.

‘Don’t forget,’ Olivia said. ‘I’ll be waiting for you this afternoon. And you can stay. I like a full house.’

It was more than a request, it was a command. Anna didn’t take too easily to being ordered around.

‘That should be all right,’ she said coolly. ‘I’ll be round at four.’

Then came the smile, Olivia’s disarming warmth. ‘I’ll so look forward to it.’

At Kate’s house she lay in a deep bath and watched a silvery moth flap against the white ceiling, unable to get Olivia out of her mind. She pictured Olivia’s face, its baffling flashes of light and darkness like cloud shadows racing across a valley. She thought of the glinting malevolence she had seen in her eyes, and felt her innards turn. She imagined Olivia as she had seen her dressed that morning, malign mannequin, waiting by the bath, her hand coming down over Anna’s face, the nails red and sharp, pushing her down and down.

‘No,’ she whispered. ‘Stop. Please.’ She lay in the warm water, trembling and sobbing, irrationally afraid for a time even to lie back and soak her hair.

I should go away and not get involved with her, she thought, as she dried herself. I don’t need this, on top of everything else.

‘What d’you want me to do, Mom?’ She felt foolish talking to herself in the bathroom like that. The emptying bath inflated her words with an echo but provided no answer.

She put on clean, washed-out jeans and a white shirt and walked quickly round to Roland’s house.

‘Come in!’ he greeted her joyfully, secateurs in hand. ‘I could do with a break.’

‘Roland, sorry – I can’t today. I’ve promised to meet someone at eleven.’

‘Ah. Anyone nice?’ he asked, with childlike hopefulness.

‘Nice?’ Anna teased him. ‘Yes, I think you could say nice. I just wanted to check you hadn’t been round and wondered where I was.’

‘No, I haven’t as a matter of fact. Been to see friends then? Good for you. You don’t want to be in that house alone too much, I’m sure.’

‘I might be staying over in Moseley tonight. I didn’t want you to worry.’ She gave him the address. ‘It’s off Anderton Park Road.’

‘Right-o,’ Roland said with his implacable cheerfulness.

‘Can I pop in for a coffee tomorrow?’ she asked, guilty.

‘Nothing I’d like more.’

‘Great. I’ll see you then.’

‘Anna?’

She turned back.

‘Spare a kiss?’

‘More than.’ Hugging him tight, she gave him a big kiss on each cheek and Roland chuckled delightedly.