Heather wiped her hands down her striped nightshirt, then, yanking Merrin’s head upright, she gathered the two sides of her hair.

‘So, Merry, which is it to be, sides up or sides down?’ Her mother stood tall, repeatedly pulling the hair up into a knot at the back of her head and then letting it fall.

‘I don’t know, either. You choose.’

Her mother tutted. ‘You can’t say either; they are entirely different looks!’ Once again she pulled her younger daughter’s hair into shape. ‘What do you think, girls?’

‘Up,’ Ruby shouted.

‘No, down, hide as much of her mug as possible.’ Bella laughed and the girls high-fived.

‘You’re not helping!’ Her mum wiped her forehead and took a breath; she looked close to tears.

‘Mum, it’s not worth fretting over; it’s only hair, who cares?’

‘Who cares?’ she barked. ‘I do, and you certainly should! It is these small things that will make a difference. Look at Cousin Peter’s wedding: there was Uncle Peter, a managing director, no less, and I know I’ve already told you that when Aunty Margaret needed a hysterectomy, she had it done on Bupa.’

‘You have!’ Bella and Ruby chorused, snickering.

Undeterred, Mrs Kellow continued, ‘Money to spare they’ve got, but no one thinks about the amazing riverside venue or the pre-dinner canapés at Peter’s wedding, which I know for a fact cost twenty-nine pounds a head. No, if they think about it at all, the only thing they picture is Aunty Margaret’s furry fascinator!’

Merrin pinched her lips together tightly, a trick she employed to stop inappropriate comments popping out of her mouth. It worked. Ruby and Bella were not so practised and sprayed their laughter into the room as they clung to each other, wheezing the words ‘furry fascinator!’

‘Honestly, Mum, no one will care about whether I have sides up or down. I promise you.’

‘I need you to care about these things!’ Her mother was pleading now.

‘But I don’t, not really. I don’t care so much about the wedding. I just want to be married.’

‘For the love of God!’ Her mum seemed to fold, and slumped in the old leather wing-back chair by the side of the range. ‘I’m getting one of my headaches.’

‘Merry’s right, Mrs K, you shouldn’t worry. Why don’t you call your sister and get her to wear that furry fascinator, then that’ll be the talk of the town and no one will give a rat’s arse about Merrin’s hair?’

Heather Kellow pushed her thumbs into her eyes, as if to release some unseen pressure, and sighed. ‘I’m trying very hard to make everything perfect for her big day. That’s all.’