It had nothing to do with money – Cassie Morgan, for instance, was as poor as a church mouse – it was all to do with bonding at a certain time of life, and that time was when the mother still had the power to dictate her children’s friendships and develop her own off the back of them. Kai was perfectly capable of finding his feet at school. He didn’t need her help with that.

Grace had called the school office in advance, so Kai and Lottie knew about the arrangement. They ran over when they saw Anna. She felt a surge of pride and made a great to-do about checking they had everything, then strolled to the gate with the two of them at her side. Soon enough, she thought, these women would come round. She had made a mistake at the first evening event she’d been invited to, flirting with the husbands. But she had been expecting Grace and Nick to be there, and when they hadn’t showed up and she heard someone bemoaning the fact that they had gone away for the weekend, she had been so disappointed, she had drunk too much.

Lottie was fascinated by what Anna did. She stood in the conservatory taking it in, inspecting the rustic wooden signs hanging on hooks waiting for the next craft fair. They said things like Home Sweet Home, Eat Laugh Love, and Love Me Love My Mess. She had sold thirty of the things at the Christmas Fair at Kai’s old school last year.

‘It’s cold in here,’ Lottie said.

It was true. The conservatory was distinctly chilly. Anna was used to it, but she had to wear fingerless gloves when she was working. She couldn’t afford to have the heating on all day, so it went off as soon as Kai left for school. Embarrassed, she spun the thermostat until it clicked, then jacked it right up to 21 degrees. No half measures.

‘Can I make one?’ Lottie said, indicating the signs.

‘Sure,’ Anna said, even though the bits of naturally sanded and weather-bleached driftwood that she and Kai scavenged from the Dorset beach close to where Ben’s parents lived, were sacrosanct. Apart from being integral to her work, they also gave her a reason to be out of the house and away from her in-laws. They’d been hinting lately that Kai was old enough to stay with them on his own. She was beginning to think it might not be such a bad idea.

Anna picked out a small one. ‘Paint the background first, then do the writing in pencil.’

‘I know,’ Lottie said, as though it was obvious.