‘And did Martha tell you that she had decided it was time for me to downsize to some poky little place on her doorstep so I can be a handy babysitter when the time comes? Did she? I don’t know why she doesn’t just find me a care home, or better still, an undertaker and have done with it!’ The heated dismay in her voice spilled over. She was suddenly furious that she was having to justify and defend herself to her oldest friend.

‘Now you’re just being hysterical,’ said Geraldine. ‘But really, would it be such a bad idea to downsize and be nearer Martha and Tom?’

‘If your daughter were treating you this way, how would you react?’

Geraldine had the grace to laugh. ‘I’d tell Hilary to sling her hook and to hire an au pair if she was after cheap childcare! But never mind all that. Tell me something about this man.’

‘Didn’t Martha tell you his name?’

‘No she didn’t, I had to end the call before she reached that point in her tale as I had somebody knocking at the door. Why? Is it somebody I know?’

Naomi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘It’s Ellis.’

There was a long pause, and then: ‘Are you telling me you’re seeing Ellis Ashton?’

‘I am, and I feel exactly the same for him now as I did all those years ago.’

‘Do the girls know anything of your history?’

‘No. And it will remain that way.’

‘Yes,’ said Geraldine, ‘I would imagine that would be best.’

Chapter Thirteen

Willow was frantic with worry. Cedric had been missing for over a week now and Simon and Lucy were due home any day and what on earth was she going to tell them? She certainly couldn’t tell them the truth, that when she returned from seeing Martha to discuss The Mum Situation one of the cats was missing. She hunted everywhere in the house for him with Sirius following her. Rick couldn’t say with any certainty when he’d last seen Cedric, but he did admit to leaving the front door ajar when he’d come back from trying the new gym.

‘It was open for no more than a few seconds,’ he told her, ‘while I fetched in my gym bag which I’d left in the boot of the car.’

His admission had brought her out in a cold sweat. It was the Golden Rule, as laid down by Simon and Lucy, that under no circumstances was the front or back door to be left open if the cats weren’t safely shut inside a room in the house.

‘Sorry,’ he’d said. ‘I didn’t think a few seconds would matter. But when you think about it, it’s a bit cruel to keep a pair of moggies locked up and deny them the chance to be outside enjoying what they do best, killing birds and mice.’

Willow had tried to explain that they weren’t ordinary cats; they were special Siamese cats that had cost her friends a lot of money. And that was quite apart from the sentimental attachment they had to Cedric and Sirius.