‘I don’t want you to get into trouble on our account,’ I say, as Mum walks into the room. She has a handful of clothes in her arms. I haven’t even had the chance to talk to her about how she got on with Alan Hartall yesterday.

‘Can I use the washing machine?’ she asks. ‘I’m running out of things to wear. Thank goodness I brought an extra pair of shoes with me. Can’t believe my favourite sandals are broken.’

‘Give them to me and I’ll fix them,’ says Tom, standing up and taking his empty plate and cup to the sink. He’s got his paint-splattered jeans on with holes in the knees. He wants to make a start on the little bedroom. I know it’s his way of trying to get me excited about the baby and the house again. To try to take my mind off everything else. I can’t bear to admit to him that I’m feeling less and less at home here with each passing day.

My phone vibrates next to me and my dad’s number flashes up on the screen.

‘Did your mother get home in the end?’ It’s the first thing he says when I answer.

‘Yes.’ I glance at Mum, who looks up at me. ‘She lost her phone. It’s all . . . it’s all okay.’ I don’t want to worry him by mentioning that Mum got assaulted and threatened on her way home.

‘Is that your dad? Can I speak to him?’ she says, getting up and taking the phone from me before I’ve even replied.

She cups it to her ear. ‘Euan? Yes, it’s me.’ She wanders out of the room and into the hallway so that I can no longer make out what they’re saying.

‘Rude,’ I say to Tom, and we laugh, uneasily, as he slides into the chair next to me.

She returns five minutes later and hands me back my phone. She doesn’t tell me what they talked about. Instead she makes herself a cup of tea and joins us at the table. ‘I’ve had an idea,’ she announces. ‘I think we should go to Spain. You can stay with me for a while.’

I nearly spit out my tea. ‘You’re joking?’

‘I don’t think it’s safe to stay here.’

‘But what about our jobs? And Gran? We can’t just . . . leave.’

‘There are nursing homes in Spain,’ she says. ‘We can take Gran too.’

‘If we go,’ says Tom pragmatically, ‘all our problems will still be here when we get back. We can’t run away, Lorna.’

That’s the trouble with Mum. She’s spent her whole life thinking it’s the answer to everything.

What exactly is she running from this time? Is there something she’s not telling me?