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…’ she could feel the colour rising to her cheeks and turned quickly back to the stove, bending to open the oven door. ‘I’m taking Jamie to see Marjory next weekend. They haven’t seen each other for years.’ It wasn’t a lie exactly, just not the whole truth, but it grated on Annie’s conscience.
    ‘That’ll be fun,’ Lucy said.
    When the flush had finally subsided and Annie looked at her daughter again, she could see Lucy was regarding her carefully, a small frown on her face.
    ‘Work OK?’ Annie asked.
    ‘Mmm, yeah. Nothing special.’
    Lucy wandered over to the stove.
    ‘This looks like a bit of a feast, Mum. What’s the occasion?’ The ‘feast’ included rolls of smoked salmon sprinkled with lemon and pepper, each roll pierced with a cocktail stick and arranged on a round wooden platter; a large roasted sea bass nestling in foil with thin slices of fennel, spring onion and lemon caramelising on the top;rosemary potatoes; pak choi with ginger and soy sauce, and a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
    ‘Oh, nothing. Just felt like cooking. You know me.’
    ‘You’re being unusually, well, sort of kind at the moment.’ Annie caught her daughter’s questioning gaze again, but continued scraping the small, crisping chunks of potato from the roasting tin and spooning them into a warmed white china serving dish.
    ‘Aren’t I always the kindest and most considerate mother on the planet?’ She raised an amused eyebrow at Lucy.
    ‘Uh, well, reasonably so, I suppose,’ conceded Lucy with a grin. ‘But this last week you’ve been particularly, well, sort of extra kind.’
    ‘Have I?’
    ‘For instance, you offered to pay for my Africa trip if I get the job, even though you think it’s stupid and dangerous. You didn’t go off on one when Mash said she was getting a tattoo on her ankle – which, by the way, she totally won’t. You agreed with Dad about the new car, even though you hate those Honda hybrid things. And you didn’t even nag him when he put the plates in the dishwasher without rinsing them. That’s a first!’
    Annie laughed. ‘I hadn’t noticed. Right: can you give Dad a shout? Supper’s ready.’
    But Lucy wasn’t to be put off.
    ‘Dad,’ she said, as soon as her father appeared, ‘have you noticed Mum being a bit sort of different recently?’
    Richard kept an admirably straight face.
    ‘Different in what way?’
    Lucy frowned again, her gaze darting between her parents.
    ‘I don’t know … something …’
    Richard put his arm round her, gave her a squeeze. ‘Can’t say I have,’ he lied.
    Annie shot him a grateful look. It amazed her that Lucy hadn’t clocked something was up before this. She knew she’d been distracted, almost euphoric at times, since the letter had arrived. And her daughter had always been overly sensitive to atmosphere.
    Lucy shrugged, shook her head. ‘OK, don’t tell me then. As long as it’s not cancer or one of you having an affair.’
    There was silence for a moment, then Annie and Richard both let out an awkward laugh.
    ‘You’ve got too much imagination,’ Annie told her.
    ‘Drink?’ Richard pressed a glass of chilled white into his daughter’s hand.
    ‘So … have you arranged the meeting yet? With the boy?’ Richard asked, his voice lowered, even though Lucy had gone upstairs to bed a while ago.
    Annie nodded. ‘Saturday week at Marjory’s.’
    ‘Great. I’ll drive you down.’
    She didn’t reply for a moment.
    ‘Thanks, darling, but I’ve asked Jamie to come. I thought … well, he was there at the time, and he knows Marjory …’
    She winced as she saw the hurt flash across his face. ‘I know Marjory too,’ he said.
    ‘Richard, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you’d want to be involved at this stage … it being my past, before we met.’
    ‘It may be your past, but I’m totally involved in everything in your life now, aren’t I?’
    He still looked upset, which she couldn’t bear. They’d never talked