‘There are others, too.’ I guide her towards the far end of the borders, to the shadows of the woods beyond. ‘Oleander, vinca major, digitalis. All less than healing.’ She reaches out a finger to stroke the leaves on the oleander tree, and I put out a hand to stop her, my fingertips millimetres from her skin. ‘Don’t touch them. They’re poisonous. Oleander will give you nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea too if you’re unlucky.’ I point towards the others. ‘Digitalis will give you stomach pains and dizziness, and vinca major will give you dangerously low blood pressure. I think they were all planted here deliberately.’ An image of the woman in dark clothing, Agnes, bending over the borders rises in my mind.

‘Really? It is possible I suppose. Are you still having the dream, or vision, whatever you are calling it?’ My mother speaks bluntly, her eyes on mine.

‘Yes.’ I wish I could tell her differently.

‘Hmmm. You are a good mother, Allie. Remember that.’ She looks back at the border, a frown on her face, before she turns and walks towards the house. ‘Come. Let’s go inside.’ I follow behind her, afraid that if I let her out of my sight, she’ll vanish like the cigarette smoke that surrounds her.

‘Do you want to hold him?’ When I enter the kitchen a few steps behind her, she is leaning over the pram, her face close to the baby’s.

‘No, no. Leave him while he is sleeping.’ Her eyes roam around the kitchen, eyeing the tubs of food from Avó on the side, waiting to go in the fridge. ‘You are being well looked after.’

‘It’s just from Avó, you know she’s a feeder.’ The baby stirs in the pram then, and I lean in to pick him up. ‘Are you sure you won’t hold him?’

‘No, let him sleep.’ She leans closer though, stroking his head with one finger. ‘Listen, I only stopped by to see how you were. You seemed upset when you left the café, and I wanted to tell you that I did enjoy spending time with you and the children.’

I wait, sure now that she’ll tell me she’s going back to France. She never admits to enjoying my company. We’ve barely spent any time together at all since I married Rav. It’s as if she can’t bear to be near me after I refused to listen to her when she told me she didn’t like him, that I was making a mistake. ‘Is this where you tell me you’re leaving?’