‘No. He never said a word about it.’ To which of course, Maya would say, Well, wasn’t that just typical of Eddie?

‘Oh, dear boy, I’m sure he’s been so worried about me, but what with how busy he’s been in the run-up to Christmas… He probably doesn’t get a chance to talk to you properly these days anyway.’

‘So, you’re coeliac now?’ Liv was mentally checking through every part of the lunch she’d finished preparing. She looked at the clock. They were due in less than half an hour. If Barbara had a decent bone in her body, she’d have let them know a few days ago.

‘Oh, those labels – poof for all that. I simply can’t have any gluten; it makes me terribly unwell and I’ll be in absolute agony for days on end if I so much as look at the stuff.’

‘It’s a pity Eddie didn’t mention it.’

‘I’m sure he did.’ As usual, Barbara jumped immediately to her son’s defence. ‘It’s hardly his fault if you’re so taken up with everything else that you don’t listen to him properly.’

‘Never mind, hardly the end of the world. I’ll just make sure that everything is gluten-free for you, okay?’ Liv managed not to sound as if she was speaking through gritted teeth.

‘Fine.’ Barbara sniffed, perhaps hoping that it would take a little more work than just mentally ticking off every item that had already been prepared, cooked and was just being browned off in the oven.

When Liv put down the phone, she took a deep breath. Eddie and Barbara were due at two o’clock, which she knew meant closer to three, if she factored in Eddie’s tardiness. They would be here for roughly three hours – leaving again at six, hopefully. If they hadn’t left by then, her dad would probably insist on them all trotting down to the lambing shed, which would be enough to make Eddie want to get home as quickly as possible. Eddie didn’t entertain anything vaguely agricultural and he’d appreciate the sight of a birthing yew even less. Yes, Liv was fairly certain that by the time her father wanted to sit in front of the evening news, they’d have the place to themselves again. There was no doubt that a discussion of sheep tick and an invitation to pet the lambs would be enough to send Barbara scuttling back to her own tidy if a little shabby semi on the far end of the village.