He looked slightly horrified. ‘Of course, of course,’ he spluttered. ‘Please, don’t worry about that. This really is all above board, although I understand that your husband might not be too happy about you spending evenings with another man. I can assure you, though, that any events I invite you to will be out of town, not local.’

Events, she registered. Plural. More than one. And she wondered just how many times she would have to accompany him before she could find the money to repay the debt. Realistically, it could take a while for her to get nine thousand pounds together, and in the meantime…

‘Right,’ she said, in an over-bright voice as she headed for the door. ‘Things to do. The U3A group will be here for armchair aerobics any minute, and I haven’t sorted out the room yet.’

Chapter Twelve

Sara arrived home to find Hailey building a Lego fortress with Ezra, and Matt nowhere to be seen. She frowned. ‘I didn’t know you were coming round. Something wrong?’

Hailey looked at her for a moment before continuing the crenellations she was putting together for the top of the walls. ‘Lovely welcome,’ she said sarcastically. ‘“Thanks for entertaining my son while my husband works” might have been more appropriate.’

Sara cringed. ‘Christ, I’m sorry. Is that what happened? Did he call you?’

Hailey pressed the Lego into place, then got to her feet and stretched, her spine clicking. She wriggled and massaged her lower back. ‘You get out of practice with this stuff, don’t you? Not that Cassie was ever into Lego; more of a dolls and unicorns sort of girl.’ She looked fondly at Ezra as he started putting his Power Rangers into their places in the fort. ‘I feel like I missed out.’ Finally she met Sara’s eye. ‘A cuppa would be nice if you’re putting the kettle on.’

They went through into the kitchen, where Amelia and Sophia were doing their homework on the kitchen table. They looked up, said, ‘Hey, Mum,’ in disconcerting unison, and went back to their work.

‘How’s it going?’ Sara said, walking over to them and giving them each a hug and a kiss.

The girls looked at each other. Sophia shrugged. Amelia rolled her eyes and said, ‘Maths. Jeez, it’s horrible.’

Sophia gave a rueful smile. ‘Calculus, Mum. It’s the work of the devil.’

Sara and Hailey laughed, neither of them having excelled in the subject.

‘Know what you mean.’ Sara filled the kettle. ‘I’m sorry, but I won’t be much help with that. If you’re stuck, you’ll have to ask your dad. He’s the maths expert in this house.’

Amelia scowled. ‘Yeah, well, he’s never here to help now, is he? Too much work to do. I wish he’d never started that stupid business.’