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old storeroom in Kathy’s salon had been too good to turn down.
    ‘We all thought she was mad moving away from Nantwich and setting up in Sedgefield, of all places. Her mum was absolutely against it but Kathy was as stubborn then as she is now,’ Judith said.
    ‘ She’s stubborn?’ asked Ken before turning to Maggie and saying, ‘I have to take cover when those two are in the same room. How they’ve remained friends for the best part of fifty years is beyond me.’
    ‘I’m glad they did,’ James added. ‘It’s thanks to Kathy that I found Maggie.’
    Judith had taken a breath to berate her husband but James’s comment knocked the wind out of her sails. She exhaled with a sigh.
    ‘You’ve done a lovely job in this room,’ Ken said to break the silence that Maggie was waiting for James to fill. ‘In fact, the whole house is really coming along.’
    ‘Yes, it’s been a hard slog stripping everything back. This room must have had about six layers of wallpaper underneath,’ James explained. ‘But the end result is all down to Maggie.’
    ‘Oh, James, you always did hate taking credit for anything. He was exactly the same when he was little,’ Judith said.
    When Maggie spoke, her tone was that of a frustrated schoolmistress who was tired of repeating herself yet still managed to keep up a façade of good humour. ‘I chose rosemary and peppermint for the theme because they both have properties that help with digestion, perfect for a dining room, and of course the blue-green of the peppermint complements the silvery rosemary leaves. I may not be able to see colours any more, but I can still visualise them with my sense of smell. My mum taught me the basics and training for my accreditation as an aromatherapist brought even more depth to that visualisation,’ Maggie said, using the opportunity to remind Judith that she was a skilled professional. ‘Every room has been carefully thought through and my next project will be the third bedroom.’
    Maggie turned towards James in grim expectation.
    ‘It’s a fair-size room,’ Ken said, ‘not one of those boxy third bedrooms by anyone’s standards, but the boys will still fight over who keeps the bigger one.’
    James didn’t answer immediately and the sense of anticipation was tortuous. Maggie had to bite her tongue to stop herself from jumping in. As he cleared his throat, his discomfort was obvious and contradicted all his previous assurances that his parents would take the news well.
    ‘Actually,’ James paused, ‘it’s going to be a nursery. We’re going to have a baby. Maggie is due at the end of October.’
    Maggie couldn’t see Judith’s jaw drop but she imagined it had just hit the table. She looked in her direction and dared her to speak her mind.
    ‘Son, that’s fantast—’ Ken began but the first spark of delight was brutally snuffed out by his wife, whose reaction was true to form.
    ‘Oh, James, what were you thinking ?’
    ‘What do you mean?’ James’s question had an edge to it.
    ‘Have you really thought this through? What about your plans for the future?’
    ‘This is my future, Mum.’
    Judith was only momentarily silenced. ‘I know you’re coping now but wouldn’t a baby be taking on too much? I was worried about how you would manage to keep your business going once you and Maggie moved in together but credit to you, in fact credit to you both, you’ve proved me wrong but, son … seriously? How are you going to manage looking after a baby too?’
    Maggie remained silent as Judith blustered on.
    ‘I’m going to help, of course I will,’ James said. ‘But Maggie is perfectly capable of caring for the baby, just like she’s perfectly capable of caring for herself and her husband.’ He reached over to take Maggie’s hand and, as the tips of her fingers brushed against his wrist, she could feel his pulse racing.
    Despite wrestling with her own doubts, Maggie refused to let it show. ‘There will be changes and there