Now he was rummaging in his underwear drawer, muttering about not being able to find anything and then lifting a pair of superman boxers into the air in triumph. They’d been a Christmas gift from one of the girls, probably Laura. He’d given up wearing anything to bed once the girls had left home but had the funny habit of putting on a pair of boxers when they returned. Not that Natalie would complain. She was in pyjamas and sex was the last thing on her mind tonight, the same as most nights these days. Menopause had changed her body and her libido. It had coincided with Milt slowing too but she did wonder how long it had been since they’d last made love. There was always intimacy and cuddles, but not sex for perhaps a couple of months.

She pushed those thoughts away. She’d made up her mind to ask her husband the question that had come back to haunt her ever since they’d visited Jack on their way back from the city. Pretending all could go on as usual wouldn’t work. Now the pressure of it built inside her with a ferociousness she had to expel.

Boxers on, Milt climbed into bed beside her and kissed her cheek. “Did you know Bree’s planning to go off to Marla with Owen?”

His question took her by surprise. She’d worked herself up to ask her own question. “She mentioned something about it before I went to Victor.”

“Hell’s teeth, Nat. This property is her work. I can’t leave it on a whim and neither can she. Didn’t you tell her that?”

“Didn’t you?”

He looked at her, mouth open as if to respond and then he closed it.

She felt sorry for him. He still thought of his daughters as little girls and had no idea how to have a grown-up conversation with them. Natalie was to blame in some respect. She’d always stepped into the breach. It was so easy for her to talk with her girls. A few leading questions and they usually spilled all.

“There’s a bigger problem,” Milt said. “Connie’s agitating for some kind of payout.”

“What? You told her there won’t be, I assume.”

“I haven’t spoken to Connie. This has all come from Mum.”

“Connie’s had handouts and she’ll get an inheritance. She’s not getting an extra share. It belongs to us now, to our girls.”

“I know all that, Nat.” He held up his hands. “Settle down.”

Natalie bristled. “What are you going to do about it?”

“There’s nothing I can do about it until I find out exactly what she wants.” He reached for his glasses. He only used them when he read his book, too stubborn to take a pair with him for everyday use.