‘That’s as maybe, but unlike my father, your mum is in good health, has never once complained that she finds Anchor House too big for her and, to my knowledge, she hasn’t ever said she finds the distance between us inconvenient.’

‘But that will change once she’s a grandmother. She’ll be keen to spend as much time with the baby as she can, therefore nearer would be so much better.’

‘I’m just suggesting that we shouldn’t make the mistake of getting ahead of ourselves.’

Martha flipped down the lid of her laptop. ‘Since when has putting plans into place been considered getting ahead of ourselves? Sensible plans that will benefit us all, I might add.’

Tom knew when to quit and so he raised a hand in surrender. ‘Fair enough, it’s your mother, you know best.’

In essence he accepted that Martha was right, that as a couple they did always think of the future and plan accordingly. They were of one mind in that respect. However, in this instance he wasn’t so sure he was fully on board with her reading of her mother’s situation. He also thought it would be a great shame for their child – hopefully their children – to miss out on visits to their grandmother at Anchor House and the beautiful little harbour village of Tilsham. It would always be something for them to look forward to with idyllic days spent crabbing in the rock pools, paddling and swimming and maybe even learning to sail. But maybe he was being overly sentimental and Martha, quite sensibly, was being more of a pragmatist.

Probably this wouldn’t be on her radar so soon if two things hadn’t happened – her father’s death from a heart attack, and Covid-19. Losing his own mother to that awful virus had brought it home to Tom just how easily life could be changed, so he could understand Martha’s concern for her mother, her need to protect and do what she believed was the right thing in the absence of her father. But he doubted it would be as straightforward as she believed it would be. There was also Willow to factor in. How would she feel about parting with her childhood home?

Chapter Ten

When she and Tom arrived at Anchor House, Martha saw that Rick’s BMW was already parked on the drive, and in the space she usually used. Given what she wanted to discuss with her mother, she would have preferred, on this occasion, for Willow to come alone. As much as Martha regarded Rick as a thoroughly good influence on her sister, he wasn’t a proper member of the family yet and therefore she didn’t think he should be privy to their every conversation. Family business was family business.

Out of the car, her tote bag slung over her shoulder, inside which she had a selection of printed property details, she carried a large bouquet of peonies, one of her mother’s favourite flowers, and led the way round to the back of the house. Either side of the brick path, where Mum had placed pieces of driftwood, grape hyacinths, snowdrops and daffodils, some of them just going over, added splashes of spring colour.