Breaking into her thoughts, Rick said, ‘Why don’t you message Martha and say you can’t make it this afternoon, that you’ve decided to spend it with me? The subtext being she needs to let your mother get on with enjoying herself.’

‘Oh, I don’t think I could do that. Besides, I want to discuss the situation with Martha. We need to know more about this man who’s popped up from nowhere and we also need to decide when and how we’re going to meet him.’

‘You could ring her and do that. Don’t you want to spend the afternoon with me? I thought we could try out that new gym together. They have a good offer on at the moment.’

The last thing Willow wanted to do was join a gym; it just wasn’t her thing. ‘Why don’t you try it while I go and see Martha?’ she said. ‘If I don’t go, she’ll only keep pestering me.’

Letting go of her hair, Rich pursed his lips and suddenly he seemed so desperately disappointed, as though he’d really been looking forward to being with her.

She was about to change her mind and say she’d ring Martha, just as he’d suggested, when he shrugged. ‘No,’ he said, ‘you go and enjoy yourself. But don’t let your sister bully you into doing anything you don’t agree with. Promise?’

Relieved that he didn’t look so disappointed now, she said, ‘You’re always looking out for me, aren’t you?’

‘Somebody has to.’

‘Have you spoken to Mum in the last few days?’

The way Martha phrased the question it sounded like an accusation, as if Willow had broken some unwritten rule.

‘Yes.’

‘And?’

‘Well, understandably she wanted to know what I thought about her news, having had time to think about it.’

Martha tutted. ‘As though a few days and some sleepless nights would resolve anything.’

Willow hadn’t experienced any sleepless nights, but as they stood in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil, she suspected her sister had. She wasn’t her usual immaculate self, her hair needed washing and her nail varnish was chipped, and she definitely looked tired. ‘Everything all right, Martha?’ she asked.

‘What an absurd thing to ask! Of course I’m not. I’m worried sick about Mum. I mean, what’s got into her? Dad hasn’t been dead two minutes and she has some new man in bed with her.’

‘He’s been dead two years,’ Willow said gently, ‘and we don’t know that he’s … that they’re—’ she broke off, unable to say the words that would conjure up the unwanted image of her mother having passionate sex.

‘Two years without Dad feels like two minutes to me,’ said Martha adamantly, ‘and she’s replaced him with a man whom we know nothing about.’

The kettle now boiling, she set about making two mugs of instant coffee. That was another sign that proved to Willow that Martha wasn’t herself. Normally she would make proper coffee and fuss about with a cafetière, timing exactly when to push down on the plunger. Or she’d use Tom’s expensive machine that was just like the one Rick had.