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“Just push things aside,” said Caz. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing. If you leave all those glasses and plates in the wall cabinets, the building work is going to end up shattering them to pieces.”

“Since when do you know so much about building work?” Hope said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Since Joe told me to make sure I empty the kitchen cabinets.”

“Ah,” said Hope, still kind of getting used to the idea of her mother having a partner. “I forgot he was a builder.”

“Speaking of,” Caz said. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about him, I mean—”

“Why is everything we own on the kitchen table?” Ava said, coming into the kitchen and kicking off her running shoes by the back door.

“Are we having a party?” Alice said, coming downstairs at pretty much the same time.

“No, love,” said Caz. “It’s just to protect the dishes from the builders, that’s all.”

“Are they going to steal them?” asked Alice.

Hope rolled her eyes and decided to put a stop to things. “All of you sit down and make a space on the table to eat breakfast,” she said. “Nice run?” she asked Ava.

“Excellent, thanks,” Ava said as she sat down. “Better since it’s the holidays and I don’t have to go into school after it.”

“Agreed,” piped up Alice.

Ava grinned. “I’ll have breakfast, jump in the shower, and then go and do the shopping in town if you want?”

“I can do it,” both Hope and Caz said.

“Eh, I need to pick up something from the bookstore anyway,” said Ava.

Before they could argue further about it, the sound of drilling began in the next cottage. Alice clamped her hands over her ears. “Why is it so loud?”

Hope put a dish of cereal in front of her, pulled one hand away from one ear, and leaned in. “You’ll be happy when it’s finished,” she said. “Twice the space, a spare bedroom for sleepovers, brand new wallpaper in a brand new bedroom.”

Hope caught Ava’s eye and smiled. It had taken some planning, not to mention far more appointments with the local council and inspectors than either one of them had anticipated, but their big project was finally underway. Ava had snapped up her rental cottage eight months ago when it had finally gone on the market, using the money she got from the sale of her house in the States. Now, with Caz’s enthusiastic permission, they were knocking the two cottages together.

“Here,” said Hope, handing Ava a cup of coffee.

Ava stared down into it. “It’s full of dust.”

“Get used to it,” said Caz, settling down with some crackers and cottage cheese. “Those builders’ll be months in there, take my word for it.”

“We planned on six weeks,” said Ava.

“And it’ll take double that. Something always comes up in projects like this,” said Caz.

Ava looked at Hope and Hope mouthed the word ‘Joe’ at her and Ava smiled. “We’ll see.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Alice said loudly over the noise of the drilling.

“Mmm?” said Hope, taking a plate of toast and moving a fruit bowl, a blender, and a set of decorative wine glasses out of the way so she could sit.

The drilling next door stopped as Alice started speaking again, meaning her words rang out far louder than she’d intended.

“I thought I might go and live with daddy.”

Hope’s heart exploded into a million pieces.

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