‘Yes.’ Jenna was starting to wonder whether there was something more to her daughter’s sudden change of attitude. ‘What do you know about a boy called Fraser?’

‘Fraser Price?’ Ryan stood up. ‘He lives near you. Just along the beach. His mum is called Ailsa—she’s a single parent. Diabetic. Why are you asking?’

Jenna chewed her lip. ‘Lexi seems to like him—’

‘And you’re worrying that he has unsavoury habits?’

‘I’m just worrying generally. In London, Lexi started mixing with the wrong crowd. She made a point of doing all the things she thought would upset me…’

‘Why would she want to upset you?’

Jenna hesitated. ‘She blames me for not trying to fix my marriage.’

‘Did you want to fix it?’

Jenna thought about Clive and the scene in his office that day. Thought about what she’d learned about her marriage. ‘No. Some things can’t be fixed.’ She had an urge to qualify that with an explanation, but realised that there was no way she could elaborate without revealing that her husband hadn’t found her sexy. Somehow that was too humiliating. She turned away and put a box of dressings back into the cupboard. ‘There’s nothing to talk about. My marriage ended. It happens to thousands of people every day.’

And thousands of people got on with their lives, as she had done. Picking up the pieces, patching them together again into something different.

‘Did you think about buying him out so that you could stay in the house?’

It was a practical question, typically male. ‘I’m a nurse, Ryan, not a millionaire. London is expensive. And anyway, I didn’t want to stay in that house. It was full of memories I didn’t want. I knew if I’d stayed there I’d always be looking back. I wanted to move forward. He offered me a sum of money and I took it.’

‘I’m guessing it wasn’t a generous sum.’ His eyes darkened, and she wondered why he’d be angry about something that wasn’t his problem.