Now we had moved out of London and had a much better work/life balance, there was actually time to communicate properly in the evenings, and we tried to keep the weekends clear for family time. I mean, there were still software updates, you can’t have it all, but at least they didn’t occur almost every week like they once used to.

Looking back, I always had a feeling that I didn’t have full ownership of Jason; that a bit of him had belonged to someone else. But I didn’t think that any more.

At that moment Jason’s gaze went from Joni’s face to mine. He stopped tickling her and our eyes locked. I moved my hands across my stomach instinctively and thought about the second little bean growing in there. He smiled into my eyes and said everything he needed to say in one look.

Acknowledgements

Just Between Friends has been an epic three-year passion project with a number of twists and turns in the writing process which, ultimately, have led it to become a very different novel to my previous two, and one I feel really proud of. It wouldn’t have come this far without the valued contributions from the talented, supportive team at HQ Stories: Lisa Milton and my editors Charlotte Mursell and Cicely Aspinall, thank you so much for your continued encouragement to keep pushing and pushing for the best possible plot. Yes it does feel like I have given birth a couple of times over, but the end prize is so worth it!

Also thanks to Jenny Savill for always championing me; Dr. Stuart Lavery for speaking to me about the IVF process; JmStorm for the perfect quote; so many of my friends for your anecdotes – we did have a lot of laughs looking back fondly on those days of baby groups, coping with a new-born and the madness of sleep deprivation.

Thank you to Callum, Heath and Rex, my three leading men, who gave me so much support to write this novel, even when it meant nights away from home burning the midnight oil. I am so deeply grateful for your encouragement and nurturing of my love of writing and I am inspired to see budding writers in you. Plus, as ever, I am so thankful to my parents, to whom this novel is dedicated.

And finally, I would like to thank Amy, Barbara, Corinne, Fede, Jemima, Natalie, Nicola, and Tanya – the eight wonderful women in my NCT Group. I have such happy memories of 2014, our first summer as mothers, but I want to assure you there were no huge secrets kept between us, and the characters of Aisha, Lucy and all of my Baby Group members, are not based on you or your other halves! But the ‘poo-mageddon’ episode, some of the baby group classes (Moo-ing), colic dramas and the copious amounts of coffee consumed in various Clapham cafes before pounding the common with our prams, might sound a little familiar and are remembered with great affection. Thank you for sharing such a special time with me; your support and friendship in the final stages of pregnancy and early months of motherhood and beyond, means so much and will never be forgotten. Especially now there’s a book documenting some of it. I hope this novel makes you smile.