‘I had Susie trying to persuade me to do the exact same thing. It sounds hideous. Would you do it?’

Sheila had been on her own for over fifteen years now. Although Rory hadn’t thought about it at the time, her mum had only been in her early fifties when Rory’s dad had died – she could have met someone else. Still could?

‘I don’t think so. We’ve only really got Sid who’s on his own, and I’d rather collect the random pants from the laundry room than get romantic with him. Where’s Belle? Has she spoken to you about this boy yet?’

Rory shook her head. ‘No. She’s at Fiona’s all the time at the moment, so I’ve hardly seen her, and I don’t want to be the one to bring it up. I’ll wait for her to tell me.’

Sheila crossed her arms. ‘I don’t want to make you feel worse, Aurora, but that’s the trouble with being such an old cynic – people don’t want to talk to you about their romances, not even your own daughter.’ She put her head on one side. ‘It is normal for teenagers to keep secrets from their parents, though. As your mother, I know that better than anyone.’

That was what bothered Rory the most. Up until now, her relationship with her daughter hadn’t been normal in the sense that Sheila was talking about. Belle had been barely a year old when Rory had found out about Scott’s affairs and had asked him to leave. Since then, it had always been the two of them against the world. They had been a team. They had never had secrets. Until now.

The front door banged and Belle’s breathless face peeped around the sitting room door. ‘Hi, Mum. Hi, Gran. What’s for dinner?’

Rory held up the menu. ‘Pizza.’

‘Great. I’m just going to get changed out of my uniform. I’ll be down in a minute.’

‘Pizza?’ Sheila’s nose wrinkled. ‘You could have come to me if you were too tired to cook.’

‘It’s not that, Mum. The cooker isn’t working properly.’

Sheila threw her hands in the air. ‘Oh, Aurora. If that doesn’t constitute a reason to crack into your so-called “emergency” fund, I don’t know what does. You have to eat.’

‘It’s in hand, Mum.