Jayne unlocked the front door of the house and went in. Not a sound, no noise, just silence and then she heard the sound of sobbing.

"Mum, Mu...m, where are you?"

Upstairs," came the answer in a soft soulful voice. It sounded as if Mum could not be bothered to answer but she knew that she must.

Jayne rushed up the stairs in partial panic and found her mum, in bed, staring at the ceiling, with tears in the corner of her eyes.

"What's wrong Mum? What's happened? I've been waiting for you. We were meant to be going shopping in town."

Mum dried her wet eyes and spoke in a depressive tone, "I really can't be bothered. I've nothing left, nothing to live for."

"What are you saying? You've got nothing to live for! You've got a family who love you and a smashing bloke in Manuel...Where is he? He should be here now, looking after you."

"Don't talk to me about him!" Mum shouted, "I hate all Spaniards, especially Manuel, the Spanish Scum." Mum was pronouncing every word she said with real emphasis. She meant it.

"What's happened Mum, please tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You must share it with someone or you'll get completely screwed up."

"I am now. I don't want to...go away!" The reply came in a raised voice.

"I'll get your friend Carol, you two are always gossiping."

"Don't you bloody dare, she's the cause of all of this!" Mum was beginning to get even louder.

Jayne walked out of the room saying, "I'll make you a cup of tea and some toast, that'll help I'm sure."

No reply came, just an angry silence.

Returning with tea and toast Jayne sat on the bed and encouraged Mum to drink, eat and talk.

The tension eased, Mum had another bout of crying, watering down her tea and making her toast soggy, dried her eyes and began to unveil the events which had led up to her loss of interest in life.

"I'll tell you what it's all about if you just sit there and listen. No questions and no interruptions. You never knew the real story behind Manuel and me because I kept it from you. It wasn't a chance meeting in town but a meeting on one of those dating sites."

"What!" Jane interrupted in disbelief but Mum shut her up before she could say any more.

"We were talking on the internet for almost six months before he came over here. This whole bloody mess is Carol's fault. I was lonely and she suggested using the dating sites on the web. She even helped me with the advert."

"HELP NEEDED TO FIX A LONELY HEART. I am a 50 years old with a busy lifestyle, looking to continue life as a couple rather than a single female. I love sun, sea and sand and would love to meet a single solvent male looking for the same utopia as me. Please, get in touch."

"We exchanged pictures and words. I thought things were beginning to come to life within me so we agreed to meet. He had his own international business so moving around the world regularly, to further his company's growth interest, was no problem... at least that's what he told me. He turned up here and my life changed. I was in love and it was not long before he was sharing my home and bed."

"Oh!" Jayne was shocked at being told the revelation of her mum sharing her bed with a man, although she knew it happened. This sort of thing should remain unspoken she believed.

"Life has been really great over the last eighteen months, but, thinking about it now, I was already on the downward path. He always had plenty of money and was keeping me, I spent very little of my own. I had developed complete trust in him. When he started to go away on business trips it did not bother me. Even borrowing money for these trips was not a problem, on return he always paid it back with interest. I was sucked in. We made plans to move to Spain. I gave him access to both my accounts to make it easier to organise the move. He had been honest up until now. I had no reason not to trust him. We decided it would save a lot of paperwork problems and money if he was to return to Benalmadena, on his own, two months before me. I would join him as soon as possible after that date. He left last week. I was going to tell you this week, after I had been to the bank to organise my money transfer. I fell apart when I found my account empty and closed. One hundred and forty-eight thousand pounds...gone! My living account had not been touched but my savings account had been emptied.

"I'm broke, what can I do?" The tears came.

"We'll do it together, I'll phone the police," Jayne said softly.

She hugged her mum and they cried together.

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