Matt stopped and turned. ‘Christ, is that tonight?’ He looked surprised, even though she’d been talking about it only the night before, reading out the rave reviews, her excitement mounting.

‘Yes.’ She closed the door of the dishwasher more forcefully than usual and dried her hands on a tea towel. ‘It is tonight. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks. You know I have.’

It wasn’t often she went out, and managing to coordinate a date with her sister, free from the distraction of children, had become as rare as hen’s teeth. Hailey worked for a charity that supported young people in crisis; they were short-staffed and her work hours were variable, as she had to be on call. Recently, every time they’d tried to go out for an evening together, just the two of them, an emergency had flared up and Hailey had cancelled. But this time, she’d promised Sara she’d move heaven and earth to make sure they got to the gig. Now it was Sara who would have to cancel.

Matt pulled an apologetic face. ‘It’s work, I’m afraid. I told you we lost that big contract and it’s all hands on deck to try and pull more work in.’ He glanced towards the door, keys jingling in his hand. ‘I know I’m working stupid hours, but I’ve got no choice.’

‘Oh Matt, we’ve had this organised for months.’ Her words clogged in her throat and she looked at the floor while she tried to wrestle a surge of emotion under control. ‘You know that. And I told you—’

The door slammed shut.

She looked up and hurled the balled-up tea towel at the space where her husband had been standing, snarling with frustration. Yet again, her plans had to make way for his. For the last few months he’d been working late most weekdays, except for Thursdays, when he went to football training with the girls after work, an activity he magically managed to make time for. Then there was the obligatory Saturday out with the lads, going to the match and then on somewhere after. No question. No interruptions to his plans.

She took a deep breath, reminded herself they relied on his income to pay the bills and it wasn’t his fault if he had to work long hours. But still… She’d been really looking forward to a few hours of proper relaxation, a time to kick back, be herself and forget for just a little while that she was a mother and a wife, not to mention administrator at the busy community centre.

With an exasperated sigh, she slipped her phone out of her back pocket and dialled her sister to tell her there’d been a change of plan, leaning on the worktop while it rang.

‘Hiya!’ Hailey sounded cheery and upbeat this morning, which made Sara cringe. She hated cancelling plans. ‘How’s things?’