Hailey changed the subject then, talking about Cassie and what she was up to on her art course in Lancaster, but Sara’s thoughts were stuck on her predicament. Even when Hailey had left, and she was alone in the office, it remained glued at the front of her mind.

Nobody knows, she told herself, as she wiped crumbs from the desk, hoping it was true.

‘Morning!’ James called to her when she arrived at work on Monday after a hectic weekend of football for the girls and play dates for Ezra as she tried to improve his social connections. She was surprised to see him, as he didn’t usually arrive until after ten, going into the family business first to sort out the work for the day with his staff there. He was sitting at their shared desk, papers spread out in front of him, looking every inch the boss, which Sara supposed he was, although she rather liked to think of it as her job when she was in the office on her own.

He gave her a warm smile and the tension in her shoulders eased a little.

Sara would be the first to admit that her working relationship with James had got off to a rocky start, mainly because Fiona had parachuted her into the role when he was away sorting out his family’s affairs. There had always been a slight air of resentment about him, she’d thought, a coolness, and even though he’d agreed to the new arrangement, she suspected he still wasn’t completely happy with it.

A week ago, it had all come to a head, brought on by a casual comment that felt like a dig at her.

‘I see you’re settling in,’ he’d said when he’d come into the office early that morning and found her already there, sitting at the desk. ‘Feet well and truly under the table.’ He’d said it with a smile, but his voice had a crispness to it that left her in no doubt about his meaning.

She went and made them both a cup of coffee, pulled the packet of biscuits she’d brought out of her bag and sat down on the other side of the desk, determined to clear the air. She had enough tension at home and didn’t need it at work too.

‘I’m only temping, James,’ she began. ‘I’m not after your job. I’m just helping out full-time for a month while your dad’s not well.’ She broadened her smile, seeing that he was going to take a bit of convincing. ‘By which time, it’ll be half-term holidays and I’ll be at home with the kids.’

He gazed at her over the top of his mug, blue eyes assessing. ‘That’s not what Fiona told me.’