‘Who says I’d say it to his face by accident,’ she said, ‘and not with deliberate intent?’

Tom looked at his wife thoughtfully. ‘You’ve really taken against him, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she said simply.

‘For lying to your sister the way he did?’

‘If he could lie about something like that, who’s to say what else he would deceive Willow about?’

‘So now you have him nailed as a serial liar?’

‘We don’t know that he isn’t, do we? I mean, what do we really know about him? He never speaks about his family, or any friends.’

‘He’s a condemned man in your book?’

Martha drank some of her tea then took a bite of the mini roll. When she’d swallowed the mouthful, she said, ‘If you really want to know, I’d condemned him before Catgate.’

‘Why?’

‘Because of something he said to me. He as good as accused me of bullying Willow and of putting her down.’

‘When did he say that?’

‘It was during that phone call when he let slip that Willow was pregnant. And you know what, I’ve always had a suspicion that he did it deliberately. He just sounded so horribly smug.’

‘Why would he do that?’

‘Because he knew damned well it would upset me. That was his way of putting me in my place for what he perceived as my overbearing nature towards Willow.’

‘That’s a hell of a leap to make. And apart from anything else, why didn’t you tell me this before now?’

After another sip of her tea, she said, ‘I was embarrassed, and not to put too fine a point on it, humiliated. Let’s face it, Tom, I don’t always treat Willow as a responsible adult, do I?’

He smiled. ‘That’s what being a big sister is all about, isn’t it? It’s what mine does to me occasionally.’

‘Well, it’s given me cause to think that perhaps it’s a habit of behaviour which I need to break. But the last thing I want is a self-righteous lecture from a pompous jerk who thinks he can just wade in and start dictating the terms of my relationship with Willow. And as for his sickening adoration of her, oh please, pass me the bucket!’

Tom could well imagine how annoyed Martha would have been by such a reprimand. He was disappointed that it was only now that he was hearing about the way Rick had spoken to her. ‘Do you want me to speak to him?’ he said.

‘No! I don’t want him to have the satisfaction of ever knowing that he rattled me. I have my pride.’

His beer finished, Tom fetched another bottle from the fridge. When he had it open, he said, ‘You realise we’re going to have to find a way to rub along with him, don’t you, for Willow’s sake, and that of our child’s cousin?’

‘Don’t think I haven’t thought that a hundred times already,’ she said with a sigh. ‘We’re stuck with him.’

Unless Willow grows tired of Rick, thought Tom. Or thinks twice about a boyfriend who could lie so convincingly to her.