That made Lily laugh. ‘Zin! It’s not long since you were hating them from a distance and setting me ultimatums.’

Zinnia looked abashed. ‘Yes, but I’m viewing things differently.’ She glanced at George. Colour flooded her face. ‘I’ve been wanting to tell you something but I didn’t want to do it over the phone when you were angry with me.’ She sucked in a breath. ‘We’re having a baby.’

Lily dropped her fork, splashing the tablecloth with red dots of tomato herb sauce. ‘That’s fantastic! Huge congratulations!’ She jumped from her seat, almost tripping in her haste to dish out hugs, laughing at Doggo dancing around and trying to join in their excitement with his big, deep, ‘WOAH! WOAH!’ Zinnia hugged Lily back, gladly and hard. ‘I never want to be not-friends with you again. I’m probably looking at things with baby-goggles on but I think I have a bit more insight into what a blood tie means now. I’m sad and upset that your brothers acted like arses.’

‘Me, too.’ Lead settled in Lily’s stomach. ‘Have you seen much of the mums? What do they think about the baby?’

Zinnia looked even sadder. ‘They’re happy, I think, but focused on their own crap. I’ve more or less been told to leave them to sort themselves out.’

‘Same here but it seems all wrong for them to be apart. I know their relationship has had its volatile moments but I thought they’d always stick it out.’ Lily heaved a sigh. Life seemed tough at the moment.

Despite what she’d been told, when Wednesday passed with no word from her mum, on Thursday morning Lily decided to drive to Peterborough and call in on Roma in an ‘I was passing and it seemed wrong not to’ way. They could enjoy the news about the baby together. ‘And,’ she told Doggo, who was riding like royalty in the front of her car again, ‘I can tell her what happened with Tubb and Garrick and be a bit pathetic. You’re allowed to do that with your mum.’

She pulled up in the drive, got Doggo out and let him sniff, then went in through the back door as usual. ‘Hello, Mum?’ she shouted as she kicked off her boots. To her surprise, it was Patsie’s voice that answered, ‘In the living room, darling.’

Patsie? Lily felt a stirring of hope as she walked up the quarry-stone passage, Doggo’s nails clicking. She found her mothers seated on the sofa but not close to one another. It was as if they’d left room for another person between them, symbolically enough. Doggo, after a quick sniff of hands, took possession of the rug in front of the wood-burning stove with a contented sigh.

Roma hugged Lily. ‘Hello, gorgeous.’ She sounded tired but otherwise composed.