‘Have the BBC let you go?’ Mum said. ‘I know you’ve not got the allure of that morning girl, but honestly, I don’t know what things have come to when a national institution opts for beauty over brains.’

‘No!’ I cried. ‘To all of them! Why on earth would you think…? This is good news!’

‘Then why are you doing that face?’ Daisy asked, pulling her mouth down and lowering her eyebrows in a comically exaggerated frown.

‘It’s good news for me, but means some slightly not-so-good news for you.’ I straightened my shoulders, trying to force my eyes to look at Mum before giving up and opting for Dad instead. ‘I’m going to Scotland for a couple of days.’

‘What?’ Everyone stared at me, open-mouthed. I might as well have told them I was off for a ride on Santa’s sleigh.

I briefly explained about the last-minute email, before adding a deliberate deflection.

‘Henry’s driving, so you don’t have to worry about me getting there safely.’

‘Henry?’ Mum glanced at where he stood in the kitchen doorway. I had hoped her delight at me and Henry spending so much time together would override the upset at it not being here.

I was wrong.

‘Henry’s going too?’

‘We’ll be back on Christmas Eve, Mum. It’s only two days.’

‘You promised you’d be here for Christmas this year!’

I expected Mum to be annoyed, but she was distraught, twisting a tea towel up in her hands, her eyes filling with tears. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw my mother cry. I waited for Dad to dispel the tension with a warm comment about me knocking Baxter Bigwood dead, but instead he came over to Mum and put his arms around her.

Turning to Jed and Mia, thinking that they would surely have something rational to say, instead I found my brother glaring at me, Mia’s mouth a thin line.

‘Really? You think I should stay here, play board games, and watch films we’ve all seen a hundred times before?’

‘It’s more than that, Bea, and you know it,’ Jed retorted.

‘More than the job opportunity of a lifetime?’ I snapped back. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Actually, yes. Very. Armstrongs don’t put their jobs above family.’

‘Well, that’s very easy to say, when all of you already have your perfect jobs!’ I tried to keep from raising my voice in front of the children, but I was livid. With every second I was more determined that I was going to this interview, no matter what my family thought.