They were only small indiscretions that she committed, like not telling Tom about the pregnancy test kits she bought, or about the baby clothes she had smuggled into the house and kept hidden in the wardrobe in the guest bedroom.

She couldn’t bring herself to share any of this with Tom for fear of him thinking she was becoming obsessed with having a baby. Because if he suspected that was the case, he might also start to think that was all she cared about, to the exclusion of him.

It happened all the time; couples torn apart through not being able to conceive. She didn’t want that to happen to them. They were stronger than that. She was stronger than that. Through sheer force of stubborn tenacity she would make life bend to her will. She was not her father’s daughter for nothing.

But she was getting far too ahead of herself. They had only been trying to get pregnant for ten months. It was no time at all. It was just that she was so used to getting things done, methodically ticking items off her list of things to do. As an inveterate list maker, she liked to start her day with a list of tasks she had to achieve, both at work and at home. It gave her a sense of purpose and achievement. She never actually wrote down the words ‘make a baby’, but it was there in invisible ink right at the top of every list.

Thinking of today’s To Do list, she had one other outstanding job to tick off and that was to speak to her sister. She would need Willow’s support if there were to be any chance of convincing their mother that it was time now to consider the future and do the sensible thing.

Not that Willow knew the first thing about being sensible, and really Mum wasn’t much better either. During the Coronavirus pandemic Martha had nagged her mother constantly to be careful and not risk leaving the house, but Mum had been adamant that she should do her bit to help in her local community. Along with a team of others, she had shopped for the elderly and vulnerable and made sure they were coping with the fear and loneliness of lockdown. Martha had been convinced that her mother would catch the virus, just as Tom’s poor mother had.

Having lost Dad only months before anything was known about the Coronavirus, the thought of losing Mum as well would have just been too much to bear. It was the aftermath of that worry that was behind Martha’s determination now to make Mum accept that it would be better if she sold Anchor House and moved from West Sussex to be conveniently nearer to her daughters.

Especially if there was a grandchild for her to help out with.

With Willow onside there might be a greater chance of convincing Mum that it would be the sensible thing to do.