‘Hi, I was just leaving. No, I haven’t had a chance yet. I was going to do it in the morning, but he’s told me to go home so it’ll have to wait.’

There was a pause while she listened to whatever her husband was saying. Then, sighing, she said, ‘OK, I’ll do it now. But he’s not going to like it.’

‘Everything all right?’ Frank asked when she came back out into the hall.

Unable to look him in the eye, Jo shook her head.

‘Not really. There’s, um, something I need to tell you.’

‘Uh-oh, this sounds personal. Think that’s my cue to leave,’ Evan said, reaching out to open the front door.

‘No, stay.’ Jo touched his arm. ‘You both need to hear this.’

Curious to know what was going on, the men followed her into the living room and sat down. Nervous, because she had no idea how they would react when they heard what she had to say, Jo licked her lips and clasped her hands together in her lap before starting.

‘Right, this isn’t going to be easy. And I know it’s a terrible time to tell you, but Sam says I can’t keep putting it off.’

‘You two are OK, aren’t you?’ Frank asked. ‘You’re not thinking of splitting up, or anything?’

‘God, no!’ she spluttered. ‘It’s got nothing to do with Sam. Well, not in that way, anyway. It’s just . . .’

‘Come on, our kid, spit it out,’ Evan said impatiently when she tailed off. ‘You’ve got us thinking all sorts here.’

Breathing in deeply, Jo said, ‘We’re going to Australia.’

‘That’s nice,’ Frank said, wondering why she’d been so worried about telling them. ‘It’ll do you both good to take a break, and Emily will love it.’

‘I don’t mean for a holiday,’ Jo said quietly. ‘I mean we’re emigrating.’

‘What?’ A deep crease formed between Frank’s eyebrows. ‘When?’

‘Two weeks.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Evan drew his head back and stared at her in disbelief. ‘And you’re only telling us now?’

‘I’m really sorry, Dad,’ Jo addressed her father guiltily. ‘I wanted to tell you ages ago, but every time I tried, Mum got worse, so I couldn’t.’

‘So you thought you’d wait till the day of her funeral instead?’ Evan sneered. ‘Classy, that, Sis. Real classy.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Jo said again, struggling to keep her tears in check. ‘If there’d been any way to tell you sooner, I’d have done it. But there wasn’t.’

Frank stared at her for several long moments as if he didn’t know what to say. Then, leaning forward when a tear trickled down her cheek, he tugged a tissue out of the box Maureen kept on the hearth and passed it to her.

‘Don’t cry, love. You’ve no reason to be upset.’