Harriet Watson made it sound a lot easier than it was. Limiting the time Evie spent alone with Mum wasn’t something I could just do overnight.

‘I’m relying on Mum with my new job,’ I explained. ‘I could have a talk with her, try to make her see that we all have to work together.’

Harriet gave a sardonic little smile.

‘She listens to you, does she, your mum? Takes on board what you say?’

I sighed. She had a point there.

‘I know things have been very difficult for you over the last few years, Toni,’ Harriet said quietly. ‘You’ve had to manage alone under an enormous amount of stress and strain.’

To my horror, a prickling sensation started up in my eyes and nose.

‘I know your mother has been a great help to you in the past, but now Evie is at school, the welfare of your daughter must become your priority.’

I nodded, although Evie had always been my priority.

‘Our next session is on Wednesday, so I urge you to speak to your manager today, if you can. We must work together to give Evie the best start at St Saviour’s.’ Harriet placed a hand on mine. ‘Other children can be so unkind and are quick to shun. We don’t want her becoming an outsider, now, do we?

---

I’d got myself looking fairly presentable for my appointment with Harriet Watson, styling my hair and putting on a little make-up, so when I got home, I changed into smart trousers and a blouse and left early for work.

I had one or two bits I needed to do in town and it wouldn’t do any harm to get into the office a bit earlier. It might even get me into Bryony’s good books, paving the way for me to broach the subject of tweaking my hours on certain days.

I parked the car and walked onto the High Street. On the spur of the moment, as I was passing, I decided to drop by the office and say hi to Jo.

I peered through the shop window and watched her for a couple of seconds, smiling and talking to her computer monitor. I realised she was probably Skyping her sister, which meant Dale and Bryony were out of the office.

I opened the shop door and Jo looked up, smiling, expecting to see a customer. The smile melted away when she saw me.

‘Sorry,’ I mouthed. ‘You busy?’

She shook her head and held up her index finger. ‘Sorry, sis, got to go now. Toni’s here, the new lady I told you about.’

I grinned and walked over to her desk, intending to give her sister a little wave.

‘OK, speak later, bye,’ Jo said to the monitor, turning it off.

‘Oh.’ I stopped walking. ‘I was just going to say hi to your sister.’

‘Sorry, I’m just nervy,’ Jo said, looking at the door. ‘It would be just my luck for Bryony to come back and catch us Skyping. I shouldn’t do it at work, really, but it’s been a quiet morning and the internet speed is so much better than I get at home. Anyway, how come you’re here so bright and early? Couldn’t you keep away?’

I grinned. ‘I just needed to do a few bits, pop to the bank, the chemist. Do you need anything while I’m out?’

‘I’m good, thanks,’ Jo replied. ‘But seeing as you’re in town early, I’ll take my half hour for lunch for a change. Dale should be back soon. Fancy popping to the café next door for a coffee and sandwich, about twelve fifteen?’

‘Perfect.’ I smiled. Forty-five minutes was ample time to get my errands done. ‘Meet you there.’

---

I got to the café a few minutes early but Jo was already in there, tucked away at a table at the back. I plonked down my shopping bag and handbag on a spare chair before dashing to the loo.

‘Back in five.’ I grinned, crossing my legs for comic effect.

When I got back to the table, Jo was studying the menu.

‘It’s really nice in here,’ I said, looking at the homemade cakes lining the counter and inhaling the smell of freshly brewed coffee. ‘We should do this more often.’

Jo rolled her eyes. ‘I’d love to, but they’d have a fit if I wasn’t in the office to answer the phones and man the desk most lunchtimes.’

‘You’re entitled to a lunch break, you know,’ I said, picking up the other menu and leafing through. ‘You could insist on taking it.’

‘Yeah, I could,’ Jo said. ‘If I wanted a miserable life. Bryony has this way of quietly torturing you if she’s displeased. I really hope you don’t get to see that side of her.’

‘I think I’m getting pretty close to it,’ I murmured. ‘By the way, our little chat the other day really helped, thanks.’

‘Aww, I just want you to know I’m here if you need to offload, that’s all. I don’t want to push you. I know sometimes it can be difficult to open up, especially as we’ve only just met.’

Jo couldn’t possibly know that I found it hard to trust people I didn’t know, but somehow, she seemed to sense it anyway.

‘I find it easy to talk to you,’ I said, rummaging in my handbag for my purse. ‘You’re a good listener.’

‘Years of practice.’ She smiled. ‘With my sister, mainly.’

‘Let’s order, these are on me,’ I said, frowning as I delved deeper into my bag.

‘I don’t think so,’ Jo said firmly, standing up. ‘These are definitely on me. What’re you having?’

Jo went to the counter to order our sandwiches and lattes and I pulled my bag onto my knee, taking out items and laying them on the chair, determined to locate my purse. I found two of Evie’s favourite glass hair bobbles we thought she’d lost months ago, an overdue electricity bill and a folded five-pound note that was covered in biscuit crumbs.

‘Sandwiches are coming,’ Jo said, putting down our coffees and peering at the stuff piled on the chair. ‘Looks like you keep all your worldly goods in that bag.’

‘I’m looking for my purse,’ I said, tasting sick in my mouth. ‘It’s not here.’

Jo was immediately calm. ‘Look again. Sometimes stuff gets tucked away behind other things.’

‘But I’ve taken everything out.’ I opened my bag wide so she could see. ‘It’s not there, Jo. Oh shit. Shit. Shit.’

‘Was there anything in it?’ she asked. ‘I mean other than debit cards?’

‘I’d just drawn my food money out for the week,’ I said, the sting of tears blurring my eyes as I looked hopelessly around the floor. ‘I seem to manage better when I use cash.’

‘OK, first things first,’ Jo said. ‘Let’s go back to the bank and see if you left it there.’

‘I didn’t. I went to the chemist after the bank and then the post office. I definitely had my purse in the post office.’

‘So we’ll try there. Someone might have handed it in.’ Jo kept up her calm, reasonable tone but I knew it was just for my benefit. I mean, who was going to hand in a purse full of cash?

‘Oh God.’ My heart ached as I remembered. ‘There was a letter in there from Andrew. He’d sent it before the accident and I received it two days after he died. I don’t know why I was keeping it in there, I just wanted it with me all the time, I suppose.’

‘Oh, Toni, no.’ Jo grasped my arm. ‘Come on, let’s go back to the shops, it might not be too late.’

We left the lattes untouched on the table and Jo hurriedly asked the waitress to bag up our sandwiches to collect on our return.