Cordelia sighed. ‘Of course I offered to lower the rent, but she wouldn’t accept what I suspect she saw as charity, and said she’d be moving in with Stan and the others at the station cottage until her Canadian chap came down on leave.’ She sniffed and folded her arms. ‘Which is utterly ridiculous. That cottage is bursting at the seams as it is.’

‘You should have told her she could come here. She must know she’d always be welcome, and I could easily put a third bed in with Ivy and Rita.’

‘I did take the liberty of offering that alternative, but she said she didn’t want to burden you, knowing how busy you already are.’

‘Stuff and nonsense,’ snorted Peggy. ‘I’ll go and see her tomorrow morning and talk some sense into her.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Cordelia replied dryly. ‘Ruby’s proud and will see any offers of help as a failure on her part to be able to cope. Besides, she and Mike have now got permission to get married before he’s sent back to Canada, so it will be his responsibility to see she’s comfortably housed and looked after financially until she can join him, and I’ve decided not to rent the bungalow out again, so they can move back in after the wedding.’

‘Then I really don’t understand why you’re fretting,’ said Peggy, her thoughts already delightfully occupied with wedding plans.

‘Your chicks have become mine as well,’ Cordelia replied. ‘I’ve come to love them all over the years, and always admired Ruby for her spirit in the way she handled things with her dreadful mother and that rotter of a husband. Of course I fret over all of them. You don’t hold the monopoly on worrying, Peggy.’

Peggy chuckled and went round the table to give the old woman a gentle hug. ‘Don’t ever change, Cordy,’ she murmured. ‘You’re perfect, just the way you are.’

The tender moment was broken by the sound of footsteps on the basement stairs, and stifled giggles outside the kitchen door. Peggy frowned and then broke into a broad smile as Sarah followed Jane into the room.

Jane dropped the large case on the floor with some relief and held out her arms. ‘Hello, Auntie Peg. Remember me?’

Peggy almost didn’t recognise the sophisticated young woman who stood there with such self-assurance in a beautifully tailored linen suit and high-heeled shoes. ‘Oh, Jane, of course I do,’ she breathed, rushing to hug her. ‘But my goodness – look how grown up and gorgeous you are! What happened to that shy little girl who loved looking after the horses at the dairy and had a pigtail hanging down her back?’