Tania was devastated by her words, and Imelda was sorry to hurt her, but sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind. Tania was growing into a lovely young woman, and Imelda knew that Tania was feeling the ache of her unrequited crush on a daily basis. It was almost painful to watch her at times. She changed the subject. ‘Lot of people here, why didn’t you invite any of your friends?’

Tania shrugged. ‘Dunno. Look at the boys, drunk together as usual!’

All the cousins were halfway down the garden lawn and, if Imelda knew anything, they were stoned as well. Even at fifty feet away she could see the signs. Both of her Delroys were with them, which annoyed her; her son was a handful at the best of times, without his father and the boys making him worse. She secretly hated that he was working for the family already – unlike Tania there was no way that he was ever going to use his brains for anything outside the Bailey empire. Delroy had been pleased at his son’s insistence that he just wanted to join the family firm. She had not been able to talk him round; he had decided his own fate from a very early age. She had hoped against hope that he would want to become a regular member of society. She worked the Bailey businesses, and she enjoyed it, but she wanted more for her child; she didn’t want the danger of prison hanging over his head. But he had known what he wanted, and she had quickly been made to understand that she had no say in the matter. It was early days – he was only sixteen – but he was already getting a name for himself.

Delroy Junior had always been a difficult, wayward child, with a dangerous streak. He had been nothing but trouble at his school – too much to say for himself, his teachers said, and no interest in working for anything. Eventually he had been expelled for fighting, and that was after years of trying to make him see that there was another life out there if he would only look for it. Her husband had dismissed it as natural spirit; he’d been proud of him almost, whereas she had seen it as a recipe for disaster.

‘You all right, Imelda?’

‘I was just thinking about you and my Delroy as kids – now you’re both so grown up. It’s hard, you know, to finally accept that you’re old enough to do your own thing.’

Tania hugged her, understanding that Imelda was worried for her son. ‘He’ll be all right, Imelda, everyone looks out for him. Stop worrying.’