She’d winced, completely understanding his point. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she’d hung her head, not wanting him to see the tears welling up. He’d relented then, put a hand on her shoulder and given it a rub. ‘Sorry, love. I didn’t mean to have a go at you. I know you’re trying to help, but the best thing is to just leave me to it. This is a sensitive business I’m dealing with and it’s taken me a while to persuade the client that I have the correct safeguards in place to ensure their data will be secure. You shouting that you’ve got a cup of tea for me sort of undermines everything I’m trying to do here.’

She’d pressed her lips together, clenching her teeth as her emotions built to a crescendo. She took little breaths through her nose, counting backwards in her head, a technique she had for fighting off tears. It was a trick her mother had taught her after one of her boyfriends had given Sara a whack for having a meltdown about something.

Matt’s voice had droned on, a background noise, while she counted. ‘I’ve got Josh coming to put a sink in next week, then I can make my own brews. In the meantime, I’ll sort myself out. Okay?’

When she noticed that he’d stopped talking she’d nodded, still too choked-up to speak. It was so hard to do the right thing at the moment. If she left him to his own devices, he was all cheery and chirpy, but as soon as she tried to help in any way, she was either fussing or interfering. He definitely didn’t want her involved in his business, and that hurt, given her qualifications.

She understood that he was a control freak about his work and consoled herself that it was just his nature, nothing to do with her. He wanted to get it right. Wanted to secure this first contract, then their money worries would be a thing of the past and he could be the breadwinner again, the figurehead of his family. She wanted to do her utmost to make sure he succeeded, in the hope that family life might return to a semblance of normality. So on the whole she did as he asked and left him to it, even if it did go against the nurturing side of her nature.

Now, with his mug of tea in her hand, she remembered the conversation and did a U-turn back to the kitchen, hoping he hadn’t heard her, ready to deny she’d even been there. Who was the woman he was talking to, though? She tipped his tea down the sink and rinsed the cup, so he wouldn’t know of her mistake.