About a week later, I’m in the kitchen having a quiet coffee before I wake Maisie when I hear a shriek followed by feet thundering down the stairs.

I plonk my cup down, spilling coffee on the counter top.

‘Maisie? What is it?’

‘Our herb garden!’ Her face is horror-struck when she runs into the kitchen barefoot, in her pyjamas. ‘Someone pulled up all our plants… all of them.’

‘What?’ I rush to the window and raise the blind. Maisie’s bedroom window overlooks the back garden at a more convenient angle than the kitchen, but I can see scattered plants on the edge of the lawn.

Maisie and I planted the small herb garden together in the spring. We’d planned it out on paper and separated each herb section with small white decorative stones. Maisie kept a diary cataloguing the growth of the plants and was in awe when we used the herbs in cooking. She loved to pick them fresh and present them triumphantly to whoever was cooking that day.

I pull my dressing gown tighter around me and slide my bare feet into the pair of flip-flops I keep by the French doors. ‘Wait here,’ I say, unlocking the doors and stepping out into the dewy freshness of the morning.

I walk across the crisp, frosted lawn to the border, shivering as an icy breeze blasts my lower legs and toes. Immediately I see that Maisie is right. Not a single plant remains in our garden. They all lie on the soil or the grass, dying.

‘Do I have to go?’ Maisie frowns as she stuffs a foot into her lace-up pumps. ‘I’d rather just spend the day with Dad.’

I’m still not clear what happened to cause so much upset after her trip to the cinema with Shaun. According to Maisie, it all began with some silly game that Piper started in the first place, and ended with Joanne’s daughter screaming the milkshake parlour down.

Maisie has been quiet all week. My mum looked after her when she stayed off school for a couple of days after the vomiting incident, and she hasn’t been to her dance classes.

She’s had next to no appetite and has actually taken herself off up to bed without me having to scream, threaten and beg as per our usual routine. It’s all very odd, but I put it down to her having some kind of tummy bug that manifested itself so colourfully on Sunday evening.

This morning, when she tore downstairs to tell me about the herb garden, is the most energy she’s had for a while.

Shaun hasn’t called as he promised to explain why Maisie was so upset, and to be honest, I haven’t overly chased him. I sent him a text but he dodged the subject, saying it’s all been forgotten now. Joanne has been out of the office this week working at home, apparently, so I can’t ask her anything about it.

But on Friday afternoon, Shaun texted again to say he’d pick Maisie up at ten the next morning for a special day out.

When I told Maisie, she wasn’t at all pleased.

‘I’m sure you’ll enjoy it,’ I say now, trying to keep my tone light. ‘I think Joanne has some nice things planned for you all to do.’

‘It’s weird.’ Maisie reaches for her other shoe. ‘The way you know her.’

‘It’s not weird.’ I throw her denim jacket over the back of the chair. ‘I work with her, I told you.’

‘Piper says she’s your boss,’ Maisie remarks. ‘She says that you work for her.’

I’m not surprised at these repeated bitchy comments. Sadly, it’s what I expect from Miss Piper Dent. I guess she has to release her vitriol somewhere, and it looks like this time, I won the jackpot.

‘Joanne is my boss. Regardless of what’s happened, I know she’ll look after you while you’re with her.’

Maisie says nothing, but she takes her time putting on her shoe. After a few moments, she begins to snipe again.

‘You don’t even care Dad isn’t living here any more.’

‘I have no choice but to accept it, Maisie. We both have to.’

‘But you don’t care he has a new girlfriend.’

I walk over and stand behind her. Press my hands down onto her shoulders.

‘Can we just stop this?’ I say softly, bending close to her ear. ‘Can you and I not argue? Especially not today.’

‘Sorry,’ she says petulantly. ‘It’s just that… I’d rather stay here with you.’

‘I know.’ I walk around the couch and sit down next to her. ‘But it’s important you go today because you’re going to be seeing a lot of Joanne and Piper. It will be nice for you all to get to know each other, and besides, I’m going to replant our herbs while you’re gone, so you’ll have something to look forward to when you get back.’

On the back foot, and not wanting to frighten Maisie, I told her that an animal must have dug the plants up during the night. But there was a clear footprint in the soil; it looked like it was from a training shoe.

I felt as if I might be sick, but Maisie watching anxiously from the door gave me the strength to put on an act.

At 10 o’clock prompt, Shaun knocks on the front door. Finally, I seem to have got through to him about not treating the house as if he still lives here.

He tells me briefly what they have planned for the girls but to keep it a secret so he can surprise Maisie.

A few seconds later, she appears behind me. I kiss her at the door and she slips her hand into Shaun’s.

‘Have a great time.’ I smile widely at her. ‘Can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been up to.’

‘She’ll have the time of her life.’ Shaun grins. ‘Trust me.’

I glance at the clock. It’s after seven, and Shaun said he’d have Maisie back for six.

I tell myself it’s no big deal; they’ve probably just lost track of time.

I’d got a whole host of things I wanted to get through today. I had a chunk of case files to reference-tab, ready for bundles to be prepared on Monday for counsel. Shaun had already cleared all his drawers and bedside table, as well as half his wardrobe, so I planned to take the opportunity to conduct a bit of a spring-clean on my own belongings. It might be an opportunity to get more organised, especially after Mum’s gripe about the messy house.

I’d also put some time aside to pop into town to make a start on the new wardrobe that I’d promised myself to take advantage of the storage space I have now. Since being a teenager, I’ve fantasised about building a collection of expensive shoes and keeping them in labelled boxes, all stacked and ready to wear.

Now I have the chance, I think about the prohibitive cost involved and where I would even wear such pieces.

But somehow, the day has slipped away from me. I did manage to tab the case files, but all my other plans seemed to fly out of the window.

I went out to replant the herbs, but on closer inspection I saw that lots of the roots had been completely torn off them. As if someone was determined they would not be saved.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve lounged around, turning the television on and then off again. Picking up my Kindle and putting it back down, unable to get into any of my selected reads. Uninterrupted, I have sometimes finished a good book in a day, but there’s no chance of that happening for the foreseeable.

In the end, I simply gave up and just vegged out on the sofa, various recent conversations with Shaun and Joanne replaying constantly in my head, together with musings about what the broken window and the plant incident might mean. But there are no conclusions drawn; I’ve just succeeded in working myself up, and ended up wishing my daughter was here, just to have someone I love close by.

I’ve honestly felt perfectly OK with Maisie visiting Joanne’s house and with the four of them acting like some sort of new, improved patched-together family.

But now, reflecting in my quieter moments, I’m not sure I feel quite as good about it, especially since Maisie always seems upset in some way when she gets back home.

Before Maisie came downstairs this morning to leave with her dad, Shaun whispered that Joanne had arranged a visit to an animal petting centre in Farnsfield. Apparently it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the whole of the East Midlands, booked up for weeks in advance.

‘Groups of kids pet the animals on a strict rota,’ he said. ‘But Jo knows the owners, so Maisie and Piper are being treated to their own VIP session. They get to pick the best animals to have all to themselves. How good is that?’

‘Sounds wonderful.’

‘We won’t have to queue to get in either. Like our table at Mario’s the other night. Jo always seems to find a way to get round such inconveniences!’

I nodded mutely, wondering how our kids were supposed to learn to share and take their turn if they were allowed to just walk straight in and get the run of a place meant for everyone to enjoy.

I’ve checked Joanne’s Facebook account several times today, but she hasn’t posted anything online. Shame, I would’ve liked to have seen Maisie happy and relaxed for a change.

Right on cue, a text pings through.

Sorry we’re late… Back for 8! S

I feel a niggle of irritation and don’t reply. Instead, I pour myself a glass of red wine.

It does the trick. A few minutes later, I’m feeling more relaxed about Shaun returning Maisie later than planned. It’s not as if anything is spoiling. There’s no school tomorrow and I’ve nothing exciting waiting for her to do.

I wonder if it will seem dull for Maisie, coming back home after being entertained and treated as a VIP all day.

They eventually get back at 8.30. I happen to check out of the window and see Shaun’s car pull up, so before Maisie even gets out, I have the door wide open and stand waving.

Shaun waves back but doesn’t get out of the car. He waits until Maisie reaches the door and then drives away.

I’m irked. I wanted to tell him about the herb garden and remind him that he hasn’t arranged for the downstairs loo window to be fixed yet.

‘I don’t want to go out with them again,’ Maisie says when I close the door.

‘Why, poppet? What’s wrong?’

‘I just don’t.’

‘OK, well look. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll put Dad off if he suggests an outing. Until things get sorted out. Fancy a cocoa?’

‘I’m really tired, Mum,’ she says, and she disappears upstairs, back to her bedroom.