Mary had almost reached her back gate. Her thoughts, initially troubled by the sight of Jimmy with another girl on his arm, had turned to relief in the blink of an eye. She had expected to feel devastated, but between Cindy’s proposition as they left the salon together and her own transformation, she felt as though she were standing at the crossroads of her life and for once the choice was hers to make.

Cindy had said, ‘You know, Mary, I often wonder what will happen to the salon if I get married and have a baby. Reg isn’t going to wait much longer for me because I’m a stroppy mare and he puts up with a lot!’ She’d grinned down at Mary. ‘Look, what I’m saying is, I could do with training up someone to take over from me and I like you, Mary; I think I could trust you, so, if you fancied a change from scrubbing floors and washing dishes…? I liked the way you chose your style; you have a boldness and you remind me of myself when I was younger. Alice was right, Mary, choose your own destiny. And honestly, it doesn’t have to be one of misery and nappy buckets, not until you are really ready for it, anyway.’

Mary’s mouth had opened and closed. Cindy had laughed. ‘You don’t have to answer me now. Off you go before I have your mam down here wanting to know where you are. I know you help a lot at home, everyone knows that, and I’ll tell you what: whoever does run this place for me, will get the flat upstairs because I’ll be moving into Reg’s house.’ Cindy grinned. ‘Oh Mary, if you could only see your face. Go home, think about it and come and see me when you’re ready, but honestly, I think me and you would make a great team. And remember, the only way to shape your own destiny is to control it. It’s your life, no one else’s.’