" I sat in front of the roaring hearth and watched the men play poker badly and loudly. My mother bent down and filled my wine glass. Maybe it was the angle or the light. Maybe it was simply her, but she looked so young that night. And Nancy must’ve noticed it too because I caught her looking at her as she carried in a tray of teas and it was a gaze I could see that extinguished all thoughts of her erratic marriage (A marriage that incidentally would never happen due to Detective Butler’s shameful ‘outing’ by national Inquirer magazine).
Later, as my mother entered my room to say good night I sat up and said, ‘Nancy’s in love with you.’
‘And I’m in love with her.’
‘But what about dad?’
She smiled, ‘I’m in love with him too.’
‘Oh. Is that allowed?’
She laughed and said, ‘for a child of sixties, Elle . . .
I know. Bit of a letdown.’
‘Never,’ she said. ‘Never. I love them differently that’s all. I don’t sleep with Nancy.’
‘Oh God I don’t need to know that.’
‘Yes you do. We play by our own rules Ellie always have. That’s all we can do. For us it works.’
And she leaned over and kissed me good night. "

― Sarah Winman , When God Was a Rabbit