‘Cora,’ Tim says, quelling her.

She folds her arms and sits back. ‘You forget; we are his next of kin.’

‘I haven’t forgotten that. You won’t let me.’

Tim cuts in. ‘Cora and I appreciate that Nick wouldn’t have wanted to leave you and Lottie high and dry …’

‘High and dry?’ I echo. ‘I can’t afford to walk away from this. How are we expected to live?’

Cora’s gaze moves swiftly over my face. ‘You have a job.’

‘What’s that got to do with anything? I don’t make nearly enough money to cover our outgoings.’

‘That’s my point. None of us do, so the sooner we can work something out the better.’

‘Yes, but—’

‘Just to clarify one or two things,’ Cora says. ‘Could we—’

‘Remember what we talked about, darling.’

I look from one to the other. ‘What did we talk about?’

Cora puts her hand on Tim’s arm, as if to silence him. ‘We need to make sure everyone’s on the same page.’

‘And what page would that be?’

‘Perhaps later,’ Tim says. His protest is feeble, and Cora loses patience.

‘It’s best to be prepared. We know you wouldn’t want to take anything that isn’t rightfully yours, so I was going to suggest that you have a look round the house and place Post-it notes on the items that you paid for.’

I look at Tim, but he averts his gaze. The silence is treacly.

‘We are prepared to be reasonable when it comes to your settlement,’ Cora goes on. ‘Which you have no legal right to demand, of course. When this house is sold, we’ll use part of the proceeds to set up a trust that will pay for Lottie’s university education. I think that’s very generous, considering she isn’t a blood relation.’

My jaw has dropped so far, it’s practically scraping the floor.

‘We’re prepared to give you and Lottie one month’s notice, but after that I’m afraid you’ll have to make other arrangements.’

‘This is my house.’

‘No, it isn’t. The deeds are in Nick’s name. You weren’t married. Everything that belonged to him, will belong to us. I’m sure there are one or two articles of furniture we can let you have, to help you set up, but otherwise, I’m afraid, this house and its contents are ours. I refuse to believe my son saw you as a permanent fixture in his life. He expected it to end at some point and, when it did, he would have fallen in love with …’ She pauses meaningfully. ‘With a more suitable girl and married her. He would have given us grandchildren.’

We sit in silence. Tim fiddles with his phone. Cora looks down at her clasped hands. My mouth is dry.