Back in the kitchen she found herself prepping a salad with extra care, ridiculously pulling out all the stops for the surprise guest with the addition of feta cheese, croutons and crispy fried onions. On a normal evening, it would be iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes, maybe red pepper if she could be bothered. By the time the timer buzzed on the oven, the dining room table was set, with the salad taking pride of place in the middle alongside a bowl of warmed slices of baguette.

Helen called “Dinner!” up the stairs, then took her place at the head of the dining room table, Clive tucked neatly under her chair at her feet. She sat patiently, her hands clasped in front of her, itching to shovel down a slice of bread while she waited.

She was just brushing away the crumbs of evidence from her plate and swallowing the last hastily chewed mouthful when Hugh walked in, straight-backed and looking like he might have brushed his hair. He had removed his tie and loosened a button, even uncharacteristically rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. He sat in his usual place at the other end of the table.

There was a sudden waft of lavender and Lydia floated in, her hair no longer wet from the bath. In fact, it was neatly blow-dried in loose curls around her face. It seemed Hugh wasn’t the only one who had made an effort for their guest. “Hey, Dad,” she said and went to give him a hug before taking her seat to his right.

“Hi there, good day?” he said.

She shrugged.

“Your hair looks lovely, Lydia,” Helen said and Lydia blushed, but gave her a small smile. Helen noticed she had also put on some mascara and pink lip gloss. Helen had never seen her in make-up before. It brought out her blue eyes.

Mills was next to the table, now dressed in loose jogging bottoms and a tight cropped t-shirt. She smelled vaguely minty, like she had just brushed her teeth. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun and her eyes were glued to the phone in her hand. “Hey, Hugh, how was your shift down the pit?” she said.

“Another tough day at the coal face, Millie, I’m not going to lie,” he replied. Her jaw clenched when he called her Millie, but other than that, her attention was entirely on the phone. Helen could hear the tinny sounds of TikTok and realised she had her earphones in. She propped one foot up on her chair and leaned on her knee, an Instagram picture of posed chill. She reached for a slice of baguette, nibbled on the corner, then discarded it on her plate, still staring at the screen.

More giggling filtered in from the hallway and Matt appeared with Diana behind him, the two of them clearly sharing a private joke.