‘Happy birthday!’ Natalie said, beaming at her. ‘Your pressie’s on the kitchen table – are you coming down? I’ve only got ten minutes. I’m on my way to work. A late start.’

‘Yes, darling, just give me a minute to dry off.’

She watched as her daughter began to sniff the air, her nose lifted, and the corners of her mouth turned down in disgust.

‘Are you smoking in the bathroom, Bess? I can smell cigarettes!’

Bess gave a derisory laugh, as her daughter used her name in the way she did when reprimanding her. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t smoke! I hate smoking, you know that!’

‘How very odd.’ Natalie pursed her lips and turned on her heel. ‘I’ll see you downstairs.’

‘Shan’t be a sec.’ Bess shut the door and whipped off her towel, wafting the air towards the crack in the dormer window. She grabbed Natalie’s old dressing gown from the back of the door and picked up the lighter from the side of the bath, before hiding it inside the pocket. The packet of cigarettes she dropped in the wastepaper basket and covered it with her flannel, to retrieve later.

Bess raced down the stairs to find Natalie rubbing Chutney’s ears and talking to him as though he were a baby,

‘My little Chuts! My beautiful boy. Who do I love? You, that’s who! I love you!’

It made Bess smile. She bent down to pat his back and her lighter fell from the pocket and on to the kitchen floor. Natalie was quicker than her and grabbed it, raising it to her face.

‘Well, I don’t know whose this is!’

‘Me neither.’ Bess stared at the lighter as Natalie rolled the flint with her thumb and flicked it on, blowing out the flame.

‘Not to worry, Mum. I’ll bin it. Don’t want to leave it lying around – might give Dad the wrong impression.’

Bess looked at her nonchalantly. ‘What, he might think someone in the house is a secret smoker?’ She tried not to laugh.

Natalie fixed her with a stare, her voice teasing, ‘No, Mum, he might think someone in the house is a not-so-secret liar.’

‘Oh, for the love of God, Nats, it was one cigarette on my birthday! Give me a break!’ She wrapped her daughter in a hug. ‘You look beautiful, did I tell you that?’

‘You didn’t, and thank you.’