‘No. No breakdown.’ Her voice high pitched, Jenna pinned a smile on her face. She was good at this bit. Feel one emotion, show another. She’d done it repeatedly after her marriage had fallen apart. Misery on the inside, smile on the outside. Only in this case it was crazy lust-filled woman on the inside, respectable mother on the outside. ‘Have a really, really nice day, Lexi. I’m glad you’ve made friends so quickly.’

Lexi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘What? No lecture? No “Don’t go too near the edge or speak to strangers”? No “Sex is for two people who love each other and are old enough to understand the commitment”? Are you sure you’re OK?’

Back to thinking about Ryan, Jenna barely heard her. ‘I thought you wanted me to worry less.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t exactly expect you to manage it!’

‘Well, you can relax. I haven’t actually stopped worrying—I’ve just stopped talking about it.’ Still clutching the envelope, Jenna stood up and made herself another cup of tea. ‘I’ve brought you up with the right values—it’s time I trusted you. Time I gave you more independence and freedom to make your own mistakes.’

‘Mum, are you feeling all right?’

No. No, she wasn’t feeling all right.

She was feeling very confused. She was thinking about nothing but sex and that just wasn’t her, was it? Had Clive’s brutal betrayal left her so wounded and insecure that she needed affirmation that she was still an attractive woman? Or was it something to do with wanting what you couldn’t have?

Lexi folded her arms. ‘So you’re perfectly OK if I just spend the day up at the castle, taking drugs and making out with Fraser?’

‘That’s fine.’ Thinking of the way Ryan’s body had felt against hers, Jenna stared blindly out of the kitchen window. ‘Have a nice time.’

‘OK, this is spooky. I just told you I’m going to use drugs and make out and you want me to have a nice time?’

Had she really said that? ‘I know you wouldn’t do that.’ Jenna mindlessly tidied the kitchen. ‘You’re too sensible. You’re always telling me you’re going to have a career before children.’

‘Sex doesn’t have to end in children, Mum.’ Lexi’s voice was dry as she picked up her phone and her iPod and walked towards the door. ‘One day, when you’re old enough, I’ll explain it all to you. In the meantime I’ll leave you to your incoherent ramblings. Oh, and you might want to remove the teabags from the washing machine—you’ll be looking for them later.’

She’d put the teabags in the washing machine?

Jenna extracted them, her cheeks pink, her brain too fuddled to form an appropriate response. ‘Have fun. Don’t forget your key.’