While I wheeled the abandoned black bicycle along the path, SC expressed her concern that she would not find a hairdresser open in St Andrews on a Sunday. She was wrong. A couple of hours later her silver locks were chopped and gleaming. She looked great.

I left SC and headed for London to for a day’s work with ED. I wasn’t really keeping track of time and missed the last train back to Scotland. I therefore needed somewhere to stay for the night. Since BC and her family were away for the weekend I decided to head for Sussex.

I broke into the house, pottered around a bit (it was much bigger than I imagined), tidied up the toys in the boys’ bedroom, and made the beds. BC would be so delighted to see the room when she returned – or so I thought. It wasn’t until much later that I considered how freaked out I would be to discover that a near stranger had been rifling through the family’s belongings uninvited, even with kind intentions.