‘Come off it, Mum! He knows his gran’s got a boyfriend and far be it from him to play gooseberry.’

Marianne led the way to the kitchen, so Martin would not see her blushing.

‘In case you think I mind, I don’t,’ he told her.

‘That’s very big of you!’

‘Isn’t it time I met the guy?’

‘You’re my son, not my father!’

‘You think I do mind, don’t you?’

Martin watched Marianne get a couple of mugs from the dresser and pop a teabag into each of them. ‘Look, Mum—’

‘Yes?’

‘I didn’t come here to talk about this, but since we’re on the subject, let me tell you what you once told me. All I want is for you to be happy. Having said that, well, your life is your own.’

Marianne was lifting the kettle and put it down again. ‘Since when, Martin?’

He eyed her silently while she resumed making the tea. ‘You’re right. In many ways it never has been. And I suppose that makes what you’ve nevertheless achieved the more remarkable.’

‘But I, Martin, have never seen myself in that light. I just do what I have to do and somehow get through it. How I do sometimes see myself is as an expert juggler!’

‘And about your boyfriend, I’d be lying if I said the idea of my mother having one didn’t amuse me in one way and sadden me in another.’

Marianne brought the tea to the table. ‘Believe it or not I am able to understand that. If my mother had remarried, I’m sure I should have had mixed feelings. As for your amusement, at your age I also thought people of my parents’ age were over the hill—’

‘You, Mum, are never going to be over the hill. You can still run circles around the lot of us.’

‘But I sometimes wish I didn’t have to. And when I said over the hill, I was referring to the relationships young people think their elders are no longer interested in, or capable of.’

Martin surveyed his mother, still an attractive woman, her dark eyes glowing – and not just her eyes. There was about her a new radiance. He’d been too immersed in his own misery to notice that the air of resignation she had worn with a smile since his father’s death, as if the aspect of life she had just described was over for her, was gone.

‘You’re in love with Simon Newman, aren’t you? It isn’t just an affair.’

‘We care a great deal for each other, Martin.’

‘Matthew told me he’s a nice guy.’ Martin gave her a cheeky grin. ‘So when’s the wedding? And who’s going to give you away? Me? Andy wouldn’t expect me to welch on that commitment, to fly to LA for a meeting that comes to nothing.’