Grace flung her arms around her mother. ‘Oh, Mum. Yes, it’s a nightmare. Yes, we’ll get through it. I would give anything for it not to have happened.’ She paused. ‘And it’s just that, well, I have this awful feeling.’

‘What is it?’

Grace shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Just that we won’t get back to the way things were.’

‘Maybe it won’t be the same. Maybe there’ll be better, but different times ahead,’ said Tina, smoothing Grace’s hair as she used to do when she was little.

‘Lawrence is very stressed and there’s nothing I can do to help. He’s keeping me at arm’s length.’

‘You’re both in this together, even if he likes to take control of everything, so he must feel badly. It’s understandable.’

‘Hmm. Well, I don’t want him to see me upset. That doesn’t help either of us.’ Wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hands, Grace walked out onto the verandah. ‘Daisy, shall we go for a walk down to the beach?’

*

Lawrence arrived late, after they’d finished washing up the dishes from dinner.

‘Sorry. Had to wait for an overseas phone call about a deal and send some emails afterwards.’

‘I saved your dinner for you,’ said Tina.

‘Thanks, Tina. I’m not hungry. Where’s Daisy?’

‘Grace is giving her a bath.’

Later, when Daisy came to say goodnight to everyone, Lawrence rose and picked her up. ‘I’ll put her to bed.’

‘Her book is on her pillow,’ Grace said, wrapping her arms around her husband and child in a gesture of comfort, which he ignored.

When her mother turned on the TV, Grace started making notes for work. She hadn’t realised how much time had passed until Tina asked her, ‘Is Lawrence all right? You sure he doesn’t want some supper?’

‘I’ll check. He’s probably in the bedroom on his computer.’

But Lawrence had fallen asleep beside Daisy, who was curled up, hugging the large teddy bear that had once belonged to Grace.

She left the room, quietly closing the door.

*

The next day, an agent from the insurance company rang and asked if he could come and see Grace.

They sat at the small table on Tina’s verandah, the relaxed surroundings doing nothing to help Grace’s nerves as she struggled to answer the man’s questions.

‘I feel a bit useless – I don’t know any details. The house was a surprise! My husband bought it without me knowing. He insisted on looking after everything financially. I work and I run the household and look after our daughter, but Lawrence pays the main bills and . . .’ She hesitated, trying to work out what else Lawrence actually did in their family. ‘The one thing I really know about is my own personal bank account, and I only use that for everyday expenses. God, I suddenly feel so inept!’

‘Please don’t feel like that. This is not unusual.’ Then, seeing her startled expression, the man added, ‘You’d be surprised how many intelligent women hand over control of their finances to their husbands, and vice versa. Money management is often taught to children at school, but in marriages I find it’s rare that both partners are completely across the family finances, and that can put the less well-informed partner at a disadvantage when things go wrong. It’s never too late to come up to speed, though. Now, can you tell me about items of significance that might have been lost?’