Frowning, Roz looked to where Callum was beginning to stir. Why was Suzie worried about Callum seeing Roz in a dress which had been left on the rag pile?

She soon found out. As Callum’s eyes settled on her, he was out of bed and across the room in a flash. Gripping her by the neckline of the dress, he practically tore it from her.

Roz was so shocked that she reacted with her gut. Pushing him off, she deflected his hand which had come up in a sweeping motion.

With both Haggarty women now wide awake, she had heard them gasp in unison at her actions. Her heart thundering in her chest, Roz had waited for Callum to strike again, but it seemed he had second thoughts. Backing away he kicked the kettle off the stove, causing boiling water to spray across the room. She had been about to wag her finger and say ‘temper, temper’, but the look of warning on Suzie’s face made her think twice. ‘It was me mam’s,’ Suzie whispered quietly.

Realisation dawning, Roz spluttered an apology and hastily stripped down to her vest and knickers. ‘It was on the rag pile,’ she murmured as she quickly donned her dungarees.

There was one thing about the incident that still puzzled Roz. As Callum had aimed his blow, Roz saw from the corner of her eye that Lilith Haggarty had begun to scramble out of bed, looking to Roz as though the older woman was getting ready to intervene. But why? Roz knew she was hated by all the Haggartys, but Lilith in particular was always pushing Roz roughly out of the way, or throwing things at her rather than passing them to her. If anything, Roz assumed that Lilith would have applauded Callum’s behaviour, but her actions had spoken very differently. If Roz were to make a guess, she would say that Lilith was scared – of what, Roz couldn’t be certain. The only logical explanation she could come up with was that Lilith had been worried that Callum’s actions might leave Roz with a black eye and that would cause tongues to wag down at the market. Callum was known for his hot temper, so people would know he had been the one to strike Roz, but would that really have bothered the old woman? She thought of Suzie’s absent mother, and the dark looks she had been subjected to whenever she had dared bring the matter up. Mabel had said that there had been a lot of speculation over the years as to what had happened to Suzie’s mother – maybe Lilith had suspicions of her own? Roz shuddered. What did she think her son had done that would make her want to defend someone she positively hated?