‘Yeah,’ she said. I’m just a girl in a slightly too-tight bikini standing in front of a boy with a sexy wet body, asking him to love her, she thought. Thankfully she didn’t say that out loud, though. Not least because she hadn’t qualified as being a ‘girl’ for more than twenty-five years. ‘Sorry about earlier. Me flying off the handle in a panic.’

He seemed unperturbed. ‘That’s okay. It all got a bit hectic, didn’t it?’

‘It did a bit.’ They smiled at each other rather apprehensively, then both spoke at once. ‘I’m finding it—’ she confessed just as he said, ‘I guess that’s the downside of—’

Then they stopped. ‘You first,’ she said, losing her nerve.

‘I was just going to say, that’s the downside of going on holiday with kids – your attention’s divided all the time, there are so many people to please.’

‘Yes,’ she replied gratefully. Exactly. And for a people-pleaser like Em, she had felt pulled in all directions. ‘It’s not easy, trying to navigate our own thing when we’re both having to be mum and dad as well. I hope this wasn’t . . .’ She swallowed, not sure if she dared say the words in case he went and agreed with them. ‘I hope this wasn’t too much too soon,’ she managed after a moment, gazing up at him worriedly through her eyelashes.

He put his hand on her arm and her stomach gave a slow, delicious flip. Actual goosebumps pimpled up like soldiers standing to attention. ‘At least we still get to be together,’ he said.

She nodded, lost in his eyes, the world suddenly contracting around them to this small private moment. His skin on hers. The water gently rippling against their bodies. A universe where only the two of them existed and they understood one another perfectly. Maybe later on tonight they could sneak out for more of an X-rated dip together beneath the cover of darkness. She shivered with pleasure as all sorts of erotic images tumbled into her mind. Now that would improve the holiday no end.

Then she squealed in shock as a small person dive-bombed into the water beside her, spraying Em full in the face.

‘Daddy!’ cried the small person – Seren, unsurprisingly. ‘Play with me now. My leg is still hurting a bit you know.’

George gave Em a rueful smile. Here we go again. ‘Hold that thought,’ he told her, winking as if he’d read her mind a moment earlier. Then he scooped up Seren and hoisted her high in the air, which made her shriek with excitement. ‘Right, you little munchkin, where shall I throw you?’

Em tanked up and down a few times – the pool was too small to swim lengths really, but at least you could clock up five or six very easily, and then Jack suggested a lilo race, just the two of them, and soon she could feel her equilibrium returning. This was good. This was great, actually – the four of them, having fun, nobody arguing or being jealous or having a strop. Relax, Em. Capture it in your mind’s eye like a perfect family photograph: proof that some parts of the holiday were a success. Click!