‘Don’t be filling his head with all that old bollocks,’ said Shauna.

‘Ah, it don’t hurt,’ said Josh, smiling at the baby, rocking him.

‘Yes it fucking does. I’ve told you.’ She glared at him and then turned her head and yelled: ‘Marta! Where the fuck is she . . . ?’ Shauna leapt to her feet. ‘Marta!’ she bellowed again.

Now they had an au pair. A fucking au pair, thought Josh, and not two or three years since they’d been living in trailers. Marta came clomping down the stairs. She was a big hearty Nordic blonde – not his type at all. Claire had been slight, dainty.

Fuck it! Got to stop thinking about her. This is my life now. This is the woman I chose.

He watched Shauna offload Connor on to Marta, who took him down into the play room and shut the door behind the howling noise of him.

‘What girls?’ he asked her when they were alone.

‘The girls.’ Shauna’s dark eyes danced with excitement. ‘You know Tanya, she asked if I’d be interested in doing the round-robin dinner parties? Well, her, and Chloe next door, and Philippa. These are the people we should be mixing with, Josh, and Tanya’s invited me over for lunch with the girls tomorrow.’

His gypsy wife was becoming a lady who lunched. She was putting on an affected voice – when she remembered – and sounding her Hs. He found it false, stupid and wearing. Well, if it kept her happy. But one of those names had given him a jolt.

‘Philippa? Not the same Philippa who’s Dave Houghton’s missus? But you hated her guts.’

‘If she’s willing to forget all that, then so am I.’

Josh looked at her sceptically. Shauna never forgot anything. And he didn’t like Shauna getting up close and personal with Phil again. He’d actually been pleased they’d clashed when they first met, because it meant they wouldn’t meet up, wouldn’t talk. Now Shauna was going to be sitting across the lunch table from Philippa, and Shauna knew all about Dave and his little problem with the late Andrew Meredith, and that Josh had supplied the solution.

‘Shaun, you know you’ve got to keep your gob shut, don’t you? About . . .’

‘About that?’ Shauna lowered her voice. ‘I know. You don’t have to tell me. I’m not stupid.’

‘All right then.’ He wasn’t happy, but then what else was new? Shit, he’d forgotten what happiness was. So what the hell. Who cared what she got up to? He’d be in Oxford tomorrow anyway, knocking the crap out of his latest opponent.