‘How?’

‘It was Martha who told me where I’d find you, that you were on the beach with Lucas.’

‘Surely she was just being helpful?’

‘It was the way she said it and what she was implying. And why does she keep making bitchy remarks about that wretched cat I had to deal with? She does it deliberately to get a rise out of me. To make me feel even more of an outsider. She’s nothing but a bully.’

‘I think it’s a sick joke she’s taken too far,’ said Willow. ‘Not that there’s anything remotely funny about what happened to poor Cedric.’

And poor Rick, she thought. He really didn’t like being made fun of, and for some reason Martha seemed to enjoy reminding him of the lie he’d told. Willow would have to speak to her sister about that. It wasn’t fair to Rick, especially if it made him feel an outsider to the family. She would tell Martha that he’d made a mistake and he’d said he was sorry, so that should be an end to it. She also needed to accept that, but with Lucy and Simon still not talking to her, it was hard for her to forgive Rick fully herself.

A mile or so further on, and in a change of tone, and reaching for her hand, Rick said, ‘I’m sorry I shouted, but it’s only because I love you so much and I’m frightened of losing you. I just want our life together to be perfect.’

She smiled at him, relieved that the storm had been so short-lived. ‘Life is seldom perfect,’ she said. ‘We just have to do the best we can.’

Instead of returning her smile, he frowned and snatched his hand away. ‘You’re supposed to say you love me back,’ he said.

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘well, of course I love you. You know that.’

For a moment he didn’t respond and for that moment the silence between them was profound. It seemed to go on for ever as the wipers swished and the rain, heavier now, beat down on the roof of the car, making it sound tinny and insubstantial.

‘Do you?’ he asked finally. ‘Because sometimes I’m not so sure.’

Keeping her smile firmly in place, Willow wondered if she did actually love him. But if it wasn’t love, what was it, and was it enough?

‘Bit late to be asking questions like that, isn’t it?’ she imagined the wriggling baby inside her saying with a wag of a finger.

Chapter Forty-Five

It was a blustery day in late October and with a wintry chill in the air, Naomi decided to light the fire in the sitting room.

For most of that morning she had been preparing for Geraldine’s visit. The main guest bedroom, having undergone a makeover which Naomi and Ellis had done together in the weeks since Rose’s funeral and after Lucas had flown home, was now ready. In the kitchen a ginger cake was out of the oven and cooling on the rack, along with some fruit scones and a pot of homemade raspberry jam.