Pete had actually broached the idea of her moving in with them. She’d seen the panic in Mimi’s eyes when he’d made the suggestion. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along. On the contrary, Jill was happy with the relationship she had cultivated with Mimi. She worked hard to avoid being too overbearing. But it was still an understandable reaction. Having your mother-in-law move in with you was a big deal. And in all honesty, Jill had no interest in moving in with them anyway.

If she lived with them in their home, she would forever feel like the outsider. The interloper in their lives. She would have to fit in with their schedules. Share their meals. After years of having her own space, she simply couldn’t bring herself to start compromising again. Fifteen years she and Frank had been alone together, once all the boys had moved out. Fifteen years of bliss mixed with loneliness. It was funny how much as a parent you both looked forward to the day the last of your children flew the nest and simultaneously dreaded it.

Tony had been the last to move out, even though he was the eldest. But Jill was glad she’d had the extra time with him. She’d needed it.

*

Darren

He was in over his head. And the worst thing about it was it meant Steph had been right. He should have taken more time to answer. He’d said yes simply because he would do anything to make Charlotte happy. And now not only had he made a promise he was no longer so sure about keeping, he’d also invented a new girlfriend who Charlotte and Steph wanted to meet. He lay flat on his back on his bed, on top of the covers and still fully dressed, shoes included, and stared up at the spinning ceiling fan.

Thankfully Steph hadn’t grilled him about the imaginary woman he was dating, but she’d mentioned her in front of Charlotte when they were leaving the bar. By that point, the three of them were all smashed. When Charlotte had gone to get celebratory drinks, she’d returned with a tray of shots and chasers.

‘Are you kidding me?’ Darren had said. ‘You know it doesn’t end well for me when I have shots.’

But Charlotte had pushed the shot towards him and her eyes had sparkled in that way they always used to when she was up to no good and he’d given in. From there it had been round after round until Charlotte was wiping snotty tears on his shoulder and telling him she would spend the rest of her life finding a way to repay him. The rest. Of. Her. Life. He’d managed to refrain from suggesting she repay him in the form of some kind of indecent-proposal-style deal — he was drunk, but he wasn’t that drunk. Or that stupid.