‘So, what are you up to?’ she asked Willow. ‘Are you at work?’

‘No, I go in this afternoon. Actually, this is my last day.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘Sad, if I’m honest. I think motherhood is going to be a lot harder than begging people for more money.’

‘You are looking forward to being a mother, aren’t you?’ Martha asked.

‘I would if I thought I’d be any good at it. When you think about it, what have I ever been good at?’

‘You’ll be fine.’

‘That’s what Lucas says.’

Does he, thought Martha. ‘And how is Lucas; have you heard from him recently?’

‘Yeah, he’s in touch every now and then.’

‘Does Rick know?’

‘Umm … not really.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means I don’t tell him. It’s better that way.’

There was so much Martha wanted to say in answer to this, but should she? Even as a bossy older sister, it really wasn’t her job to police Willow’s relationship with Rick. It wasn’t as if she would be that upset if things did go wrong between Willow and Rick, would she? And wasn’t being attracted to somebody else a symptom of a relationship that wasn’t working?

As much as her common sense told her to leave well alone, Martha couldn’t resist asking the one question she wanted to ask.

‘Willow,’ she said, ‘do you love Rick?’

‘Umm … I think so.’

‘You don’t sound very sure.’

‘I want to love him. I really do. But it’s all happened so fast between us.’

‘Too fast?’

‘Yes.’

‘Has Lucas muddied the waters?’

‘No!’

‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

She waited for her sister to respond, but she didn’t. ‘Willow?’

Still nothing.

Oh dear, Martha thought, perhaps she’d gone too far with her questioning. She then looked at the screen of her mobile and saw that the signal had gone. She sighed with frustration.

While she waited for the signal to return, in the hope that it would, there came a reassuring voice.

‘Hi Martha, how’s it going?’

It was Andy, back from whatever he’d been doing.

‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Do you have any good news for me?’

‘I most certainly do.’

Seconds later and she could hear voices the other side of the lift doors. Then, as she hauled herself up on her feet, the doors magically opened, and she was greeted by two men in hi-vis jackets and a small contingent of co-workers.

Jason was there too. ‘Bloody hell, Martha,’ he said, ‘if you wanted a later start to the day, you only had to ask.’

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with happy relief.

Chapter Forty-Seven

After trying to ring her sister back and getting no answer, Willow then tried Tom’s mobile, but it went straight to voicemail. She left a message for him to ring her, then rang Anchor House. To her surprise it wasn’t her mother or Ellis who answered; it was Auntie Geraldine.

‘I’ve left your Uncle Brian and am staying here until I’ve made further plans,’ Geraldine barked out before Willow could explain why she was ringing.