After that, their relationship had grown warmer and she’d found he had a dry wit that she rather liked.

Trust. If only he knew, she thought now as she went to put her coat and bag in the cupboard behind the desk. She turned back to see that James had the bank statements up on the computer screen. Her heart leapt up her throat, her body frozen in place like it had short-circuited.

Oh my God, no!

She had taken on responsibility for the bank reconciliations now that he was confident she knew what she was doing, and she did all the online banking as well as posting everything to the accounting system. She’d been sure he wouldn’t bother with the detail, didn’t think he had the time. In fact, he’d told her as much. Maybe he hasn’t seen, she reassured herself, recognising the cheque account on the screen. He had no reason to look at any of the other statements. No reason at all.

‘You know we’ve got a new treasurer starting?’ he said, still staring at the screen. ‘I’m not sure I mentioned it, did I?’

Sara coughed, too shocked to speak for a moment. ‘No, I don’t think you did.’

‘Eddie decided he was getting too old for the job and resigned on Monday. Fiona’s delighted. She’s been trying to winkle him out ever since he fell asleep in the last board meeting, and to be honest, he hasn’t been on top of things for a while now. Anyway, she asked the rest of the board for nominations and they’ve come up with Julia Prentice. I think her daughter is friendly with Fiona’s.’ He looked over his shoulder at Sara. ‘You might know her too?’

She nodded, a flush of heat travelling round her body. Panic gripped her by the throat, making a reply impossible. Julia moved in Fiona’s professional circle – one of the great and good of the town, another superwoman who seemed to have it all and the energy of three normal humans. Sara found her cool and intimidating and they rarely spoke, even though their daughters were friends and played together on the same football team. She’d heard Julia was an auditor, a detail person, who worked for one of the large accountancy firms in Leeds.

The blood drained from her face and she busied herself in the cupboard, tidying the lost property shelf, not wanting James to notice her dismay. She’ll be on to what I’ve done in an instant! Her chest tightened with fear.

She heard James’s fingers tapping on the keyboard.