Page 17 of The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge

Her mother had batted her daughter’s gentle probing away. Talking about Ted, though, reminded Stef of something.

‘Have you thought of asking Ted to fix a handrail onto your staircase? The stairs are so steep.’

Her mother shot her a sharp glance. ‘Possibly. I’m not an old lady yet, you know.’

‘I didn’t say you were. Personally, I find the stairs pretty steep.’

‘Ted certainly doesn’t think I’m old.’

It was Stef’s turn to glance at her mother and she saw mischief in her eyes.

‘Mum? I was talking about the stairs.’

‘Never mind the stairs. I know what you’re trying to say. Ted makes me feel attractive, whereas you and your sister sometimes treat me as though I’m one plate short of a dinner service.’

‘We don’t!’

‘Pip thinks I’m only good for babysitting. Stef, I adore those kids and want to spend time with them, but I’ve done my share of childcare. I want to enjoy myself now.’

‘Of course you do,’ Stef murmured, taken aback by the strength of her mother’s feeling. ‘But…’

‘Don’t worry about me, darling. I’m all right.’

‘Okay,’ Stef said cagily. ‘What’s Baxter sniffing at there?’

‘A dead fish. No, Baxter! Come away! Come!’ Stef watched in amusement as her mother broke into an awkward run, splashing ahead through the shallows with the dog limping after her.

It was strange the way relationships changed. Stef, Pippa and Cara had always been tightly bound together by circumstances, but they had constantly struggled with one another. How hard it had been for Stef as a teenager to prove to her mum that she was no longer a child, yet now she found herself questioning her mother’s independence. Pippa had gone her own way growing up, kept them both at a distance, but now that she was a mother herself she seemed to need Cara again. Suddenly, Stef felt off-balance.

Cara stopped and waited for Stef to run and catch up. Her face when Stef reached her was glowing with the exertion and her eyes glittered with happiness.

‘Let’s pick up fish and chips on the way home.’

‘Good idea,’ Stef said, bemused by her mother’s skittishness.

When they set off again in Stef’s car, Cara became serious once more. ‘I do worry about you, dear.’

‘Do you? Why?’ The old exasperation.

‘Are you managing financially?’

‘Just about.’

‘Well, you must ask, you know.’

‘I’m all right, Mum.’

‘And your love life – there’s no one special at the moment?’

‘No.’

Silence.

‘That last young man, Sam. I liked him.’

‘So did I, Mum. It just didn’t work out.’

‘What went wrong? I know you disagreed about the idea of having children, but he’d have come round. Your father said the same thing, you know, and he came round.’