What she’d seen had been more than a little surprising. They looked so happy in each other’s company. As Ronnie watched, Jack said something that made Chelsea rock backwards with laughter. Chelsea was obviously enjoying herself. As soon as she got bored, she would bring Jack back. Until then, Ronnie decided, she should try to do what Mark suggested and enjoy the peace and quiet. She took herself for a walk. It was ironic. All those days when Jack’s constant yakking did her head in and now she was finding it difficult to relax without the soundtrack of his high-pitched chatter in the background. She missed the constant whine of ‘Mummyyy’ going up like an air-raid siren every half an hour. Though she couldn’t have put it into words, Ronnie needed to be needed.Sophie certainly seemed to need Ronnie less and less. She had changed quite dramatically over the past eighteen months. Ronnie had known it would happen, of course. It was inevitable. Every mother of daughters she had spoken to said the same thing – girls hit their teens and became strangers – but Ronnie still missed the little girl who was interested in what she had to say about life.
