Ruth came just before eleven, carrying the jacket she kept for the greenhouse over one arm.
Leah was at the dining table, putting the envelope inside her bag. Anna had gone into the garden with Daniel. From the window Leah could see them beside the loose door, talking. Neither looked happy.
‘He's gone, then?’ Ruth asked.
‘How did you know he was coming?’
‘Anna told me this morning.’ Ruth put the jacket on a chair. ‘Did he give you the money?’
‘Yes.’
Her mother came towards her with both arms open.
Leah stood because it was what she always did. Ruth held her, resting a hand between her shoulder blades.
For a moment it worked. Leah was tired. She had counted stolen money and listened to the man she loved say he turned off her calls. Her mother's hand moved slowly over her back. She wanted to be comforted so much that the wanting almost took the words out of her mouth.
Then she remembered Owen repeating Ruth's claim.
She stepped away.
‘You told him I'd ended our engagement.’
Ruth's hands remained in the air, then fell.
‘That's what he says.’
‘It's what you told Anna too. You said I knew about the money and didn't want him back. Last night you told me he was offered a return and chose to stay away.’
‘He did choose to stay away. Nobody held him in Bristol.’
‘I know. I've asked him about that. I'm asking what you chose.’
Ruth took the greenhouse jacket off the chair and folded it. Leah waited. Her mother was good at making a silence feel like a daughter's rudeness.
‘Yes,’ Ruth said at last. ‘I said you'd ended it.’
Leah had known that was coming. Hearing it still struck hard.
‘Why?’
‘Because I wanted him gone. He stole from you. You'd have listened to him tell you he was sorry, and you'd have forgiven him before he finished.’
‘You don't know that.’
‘Leah.’
Her mother said her name gently, with all the years of knowing her behind it. Leah nearly looked away.
‘You could have told me,’ she said. ‘I could have made my own decision.’
‘You loved him.’
‘I still love him. I also know what he did. I can know both.’
Ruth looked towards the garden. Daniel was lifting the greenhouse door while Anna held something beneath it.
‘You needed somewhere kind to go,’ Ruth said. ‘You have that here.’
‘I know they've been kind.’
‘Then let yourself be looked after. Don't run back because he finally brought what he owed you.’
Leah picked up her bag. ‘I'm not going back. I haven't decided anything about him yet.’
‘Of course you haven't. You're upset.’
‘Stop agreeing with the parts you like.’
Ruth's face tightened. ‘I'm trying to help you.’
‘You lied to him. You lied to Anna. You lied to me last night.’
‘I didn't want him making promises at your sister's table. You've been sleeping here three nights. I thought we could keep one place peaceful for you.’
‘It wasn't peaceful. I just didn't know what was happening.’
Ruth put the jacket down again. Through the window Daniel saw them. He straightened but did not come in.
Leah was glad. She did not want an audience for her mother looking wounded.
‘I can't have you here today,’ she said.
Ruth glanced at the greenhouse. ‘I'm supposed to help with the trays.’
‘Not today.’
‘This is Daniel's house, Leah.’
It was an unexpected answer. Leah looked through the window herself. The house belonged to Anna and Daniel. She was a guest asking her mother to go.
‘I'll ask him,’ she said.
She opened the back door before she could retreat from the awkwardness. Daniel came towards her, wiping his hands on his trousers.
‘Could Mum leave today?’ Leah asked. ‘I need her not to be here.’
He looked past her. Ruth was standing in the dining-room doorway.
‘Yes,’ he said.
‘Daniel,’ Ruth said, ‘don't let this become something it isn't.’
He walked up the steps. ‘I think you should go home. I'll do the trays.’
Leah watched her mother hear him. Ruth had argued with her; with Daniel she looked suddenly uncertain.
Anna had stopped beside the greenhouse. She was still holding the small wedge they had been using under the door.
‘I'll call you later,’ Ruth told Daniel.
He did not answer that promise. He took her jacket from the chair and handed it to her.
At the door Ruth turned to Leah.
‘You know I love you.’
‘Yes.’
That was the difficult part. Leah could not dismiss the arm round her head as a performance. Her mother did love her. She had also put words in Leah's mouth and used them to end her engagement.
Ruth left. Daniel shut the gate after her, then went back to the greenhouse.
Anna came into the dining room.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
Leah shook her head. ‘I don't know how to answer that any more.’
Anna put the wedge on the windowsill. ‘Do you want me with you?’
Leah looked at her. She had asked her sister to stay while she counted the money. This was a different question.
‘For a minute,’ she said.
They sat down at the table. Anna kept her hands to herself. Leah was grateful for that, and sad that her sister had to think about it.
After a while Leah opened her bag and checked the money again. She was taking it to the bank before she did anything else. She could make that decision, at least, without asking either of them.