“He loves you…and so does Sean. Don’t you think he should have the same chance?”

“He won’t understand.”

“How do you know? He wasn’t expecting to be a father. It will be a shock for him too but he’s a level-headed bloke and he loves you. You’ll work it out.”

Kate still looked doubtful.

“When’s he due back? I don’t understand how he hasn’t worked out something’s up. You usually ring each other every day.”

Kate chewed her lip. “I sent him a text yesterday morning and said I’d be out and about and I’d message when I was free to talk.”

“I think that time has come, don’t you?”

Kate nodded.

“Where’s your phone?”

“In the drawer.”

Natalie gave it to her. “You ring and I’ll go and get a coffee. Is there something I can bring back for you?”

“A bag of salt-and-vinegar chips?”

Natalie smiled. “I’ll see what I can find.”

Back in the farmhouse Olive was determined to stay no matter how much Laura assured her that she and Bree could manage. She’d insisted on taking over the spare room Kate had been using. Laura gave in and retrieved Olive’s case, overnight bag and a swag of groceries from the car, thankful that she’d checked the room after Paul had left. She’d tidied and put fresh sheets on the bed for him the night before and then this morning he’d left it looking as if no-one had slept in it.

“I’ll leave you to settle in,” she said, wondering why Olive had brought so much stuff with her for a night or two.

“Who does this belong to?”

Olive held a jacket aloft, the brown tweed one that Paul had worn yesterday, his weekend coat, not the long-lined deep blue one he wore to work.

Laura could say it was Sean’s but they both knew he wouldn’t wear a coat like that.

She stepped across the room and took it from Olive’s grasp. “It’s Paul Brown’s, Mum’s principal.”

“I know who Paul Brown is but what’s his coat doing in this bedroom?”