Lara started bustling about, wiping down an already immaculate table and work surfaces. ‘Anyway, sorry for interrupting your afternoon with our nonsense. I know how busy you are with all your sewing.’

There was definite dismissal in her tone. She’d reverted to her old self, a bit frosty and reserved. I wondered if she thought I was judging her for being upstairs cleaning instead of supervising her son in the garden.

I tried again. ‘As you say, no harm done. You can’t be watching Sandro every minute of the day, can you? Would you like me to teach him how to become a bit more confident with the dog? My mother had a right nightmare of a Jack Russell when I was in my teens. We just had to show it where it was in the pecking order and it soon toed the line.’

Lara looked round from her polishing of the cupboard door handles in a manner that suggested there were multiple carriers of E.coli in the house. Everything about her seemed dazed, as though I’d asked her to multiply a few fractions and give me the answer as a percentage of 319. I liked her better when she was F-ing and blinding rather than showcasing her talent for exterminating kitchen bacteria. She nodded slowly but didn’t say anything.

I ploughed on. ‘Lupo needs to learn that he’s not as important in the hierarchy as Sandro.’ I started to outline how Sandro needed to feed him, walk through the door before him, train him to the whistle and establish himself as the superior ‘dog’ in the pack.

‘Would you really do that?’ Lara always sounded as though her expectations of life were only visible with the help of a microscope, when as far as I could see, apart from a son who needed a bit of a confidence boost, there wasn’t a lot wrong. I had to work hard not to wish Nico paid me as much attention as Massimo did Lara. A kiss on her head, a stroke of her hand, ‘Coffee/tea/a drink, darling?’ They were more like newly-weds than we were.

‘Of course. In fact, I’ll get Sam to come round with me tonight when he gets home from football training and we can make a bit of a game of it. Probably a good idea to start as soon as possible before Sandro has time to dwell on what happened today.’

‘No! You can’t come tonight.’

I must have looked pretty pissed off at the force of her answer – after all, if it had been left to her to ride to the rescue, Sandro would still be shaking in his shoes at the top of the tree house.

‘Sorry, it’s just that Massimo is coming home early today and he likes to spend a bit of time on his own with Sandro. He’s very good like that, puts a lot of store by quality time.’

I resisted the temptation to say, ‘I’ll let you get back to your hoovering then.’ Instead, I did a ‘That’s fine, no worries at all. Just let me know when it’s convenient and I’ll pop round. Anyway, you go and check on Sandro and I’ll see myself out.’ None of my other friends gave me time slots like Lara. In fact, whenever I had a girls’ night out, there was always an outcry if I tried to leave before midnight.

I was just stomping home along the street, muttering ‘Ungrateful cow’, as Massimo was drew up in his car.

He jumped out and swept me into a hug. ‘How’s my gorgeous sister-in-law? Come in for a coffee. We’re popping round to yours later to discuss our summer holiday but I want to hear how you’re getting on without that brother of mine monopolising you.’

I hesitated, not wanting to appear rude but pretty sure Lara wouldn’t want to see me again quite so soon. I tried to tell him that I’d just come from his house but he was having none of it. Lara must have been watching out of the window because she suddenly appeared at the door. Massimo ran up the steps and gave her a kiss on the lips, so lingering that I found myself pulling the face Sam did when we watched romantic comedies on telly. Nico was much less flamboyant than Massimo in that way, thank God. Though I had a twinge of envy that they were still so passionate about each other ten years on. From what Nico had told me, everyone had thought Massimo’s relationship with Lara wouldn’t last, a cliché of a senior partner at work taking advantage of an inexperienced junior. To me, he still seemed besotted with her.

Massimo waved his arm in my direction. ‘Maggie’s just coming in for a coffee.’

‘I don’t want to intrude, I’ve already taken up enough of Lara’s time this afternoon,’ I began, waiting for Lara to step in with the drama of the afternoon, and if I was absolutely honest, a little smidge of gratitude.

‘Nonsense. We’re delighted to see you. You can catch me up on what you’ve been talking about,’ Massimo said, beckoning me up the steps.

Lara hovered on the threshold, a bit like automatic doors on the blink that can’t decide whether to move back and allow you entry or to seize up all together and block you out. I wondered how someone as buttoned-up and chilly as her had ever attracted someone warm and generous-spirited like Massimo. According to Nico, his first wife had been much more outgoing. Maybe he’d gone to the other extreme and had developed a penchant for enigmatic women. Or maybe there was a simple explanation – for all his apparent intelligence, the thing that motivated him most was that old chestnut of a much younger body. Then I had the very mean thought that if Lara’s main charm had been her size ten bottom when they met, she was living on borrowed time now. Massimo swept me through the door, saying, ‘I’m just going to change out of my suit. La, would you make us a pot of coffee?’

I followed Lara back into the kitchen. Everything about her was tense, her movements tight and stiff. I’d have felt more welcome taking a turn on the karaoke machine at a silent order of nuns. Maybe Lara liked ‘quality time’ on her own with Massimo as well.

I didn’t want to be a middle-aged gooseberry. ‘I won’t stay long. Sam will be home from football training soon.’

Lara glanced towards the hallway, then whispered, ‘Could you not mention the whole dog thing to Massimo? He’s so stressed at work at the moment, I don’t want him to feel I can’t cope with everything at home when he’s working so hard.’

I didn’t subscribe to all this bollocky ‘Mustn’t bother the big man with domestic detail’ especially when the ‘domestic detail’ had big snarling, snapping teeth. And Massimo didn’t look anywhere near as knackered strolling in from his accountant’s office at six-fifteen, as Nico did, bent and buckled from shifting stone statues in the garden centre at eight. But Lara looked so strung out that I nodded. ‘Okay, but you really ought to let him know how hard you’re finding it to cope with the dog. He’d be horrified if he knew.’

Lara didn’t respond for a second. Then she brightened. ‘I’m sure Lupo will grow out of this naughty phase. I never leave him with Sandro on his own. He only got into the garden today because he jumped over the stable door. And as Sandro matures a bit, he won’t get so frightened by everything. The last thing I need is Anna hearing what happened. She’ll inevitably find a way to make Lupo having a go at Sandro some terrible failing on my part.’

Then she looked startled, as though an opinion had swooped out of her mouth before she’d had a chance to bleach it into a bland statement of nothingness.

I wanted to cheer. It was one of the few occasions since I’d known her that she’d articulated something real and true. I’d only had a couple of years of bracing myself every time Anna whirled in with her opinions. They began innocently enough, little crumbs of observation, which then puffed up like carrier bags caught in the wind, whirling round the room, carrying clouds of criticism. Lara had had the benefit of her morale-crushing observations for nearly a decade and from a much younger, more vulnerable age. I was about to dig a little deeper – not least to find out if Anna had a key to their house as well – when Massimo trotted back in, bringing a waft of aftershave with him. In a pale green open-necked shirt, he looked as though he’d just stepped off a yacht moored in Sardinia. Then the moment was lost as Lara turned away, busying herself with arranging biscuits on a pretty plate, while Massimo opened the French windows and called in the dog.

As Lupo dashed in to greet him, Lara positioned herself behind the bar stools. Christ, if a dog frightened me that much, I’d have it down the rescue centre before you could say ‘Get in your basket’. Massimo barked a quick ‘lie’ at Lupo and he immediately dropped to the floor, head down, as though he spent the days meekly waiting for someone to remember he needed feeding.

‘So what have you been up to today?’ Massimo asked, as Lupo rolled onto his back.