‘Mum, I—’

‘Apart from anything else, you’re spoiling our lives too.’

That was the last thing Stacy had expected to hear, and the last thing she wanted to do. ‘What do you mean? I don’t intrude on your privacy. I’m quiet and I do my share of the housework.’

‘Well, I wish you would intrude on our privacy more. You used to be so lively, but now I wish you weren’t so quiet. We hardly know you’re there.’ She mopped her eyes. ‘We worry about you, Stace. You spend most evenings moping in your bedroom, fiddling with your computer. It has to stop, and soon.’

‘What’s the urgency?’

‘We’re selling this house, so we need you to find a place of your own and move your things out of our garage.’

‘Selling the house? But you’ve lived here ever since you got married. It’s your home.’ And it still felt like her home, too.

‘Not any longer. It’s more than time for us to try something else. And even if we weren’t moving, when I said you could come and live with us for a while, I didn’t mean for ever. I was going to give you another month or so to get your act together then tell you to move, but it’s been taken out of our hands. Your father’s just been made redundant.’

‘Oh, no! What are you going to do? Can he find another job?’

Her mother smiled. ‘He doesn’t have to. We’re not without savings and he’s getting quite a generous payout which will top them up nicely. So I’m giving up my job and we’re going to move to the country. You know we’ve always planned to retire early and run a B&B.’

‘I thought that was just a dream.’

‘There’s no “just” about dreams, unless you want to drift along dreaming. It takes hard work to make them come true. We’ve always planned for a B&B, we’ve even done courses about it, and this is our chance. You’ve still got a job, so you can afford the rent on a flat of your own, or you could even put down a deposit and buy a small flat with your share of your own house sale. That’d keep you on the housing ladder.’

She waited and when her daughter didn’t reply, added in a firm tone of voice, ‘We’ll give you a fortnight to find somewhere for yourself, your furniture and your junk, then this house is going up for sale. It’s Saturday tomorrow so you’ve time to go round the estate agents and talk to them about what’s on offer. You could even look some places up online tonight. And, of course, your father will help you move your stuff when the time comes. He can borrow his friend’s van as he did when you broke up with that horrible Darren Cooke.’

She waited and when she got no answer from her daughter, said sharply, ‘I mean it, Stace!’ and left the kitchen.

Stacy was so shocked by this ultimatum she didn’t move for a moment or two. Then she made a fresh cup of coffee and took it up to her bedroom. No, not her bedroom, she mustn’t think of it like that any more. This was her parents’ spare bedroom.