Sara buried her face in Ezra’s hair, aware that she owed Fiona yet another favour now. She’d have to thank her for covering up. Then Matt’s words registered, and she looked over at him, puzzled. ‘How come you were at football? Hailey took the girls tonight.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, she did. But Ezra wouldn’t settle, so I gave her a ring and she talked me into joining her for a bit.’ He laughed. ‘She told me I was a boring bastard working all the time and I needed to spend more time with the kids, so I caved in.’ He leaned back against the pillows, hands behind his head, a smile playing on his lips as he stared at the ceiling. ‘We actually had quite a laugh, and Ezra was up for it for a bit.’ He ruffled his son’s hair. ‘Especially with the promise of milkshakes at the end. He did pretty well, to be honest. I even got him to have a little kick-about with me, so I’ve not lost hope.’

Sara felt a prickle of annoyance, a longing for something that she couldn’t have. Time she’d missed, an occasion that all her family had enjoyed without her. You’ve only yourself to blame, said the voice in her head. And she was more determined than ever that it wasn’t going to happen again.

Chapter Nineteen

By the time it got to Monday, the events of the previous Thursday had started to dim in Sara’s mind while she worried instead about her husband’s blossoming friendship with her sister, and their ability to manage perfectly well without her. She told herself she was being stupid, but still, something niggled at her.

I put everything on the line for Matt, he gets all the fun and I’ve got a bloody debt to pay.

The debt. The very idea of it set off a chain reaction in her body, making her pulse race, sweat gathering under her arms, the muscles tensing at the back of her neck. She was meeting James for lunch and was determined to get clarification this time. You can’t have a deal with no boundaries, she kept telling herself as she went about her work. That wasn’t a deal at all. That was manipulation. It was bothering her, the not knowing, buzzing around her head like an angry wasp, and however much she tried to swat it away, it kept coming back.

The sound of the office door opening startled her from her thoughts, and Fiona walked in. ‘I can’t stay long,’ she said, sitting on the opposite side of the desk, her bag on her lap and a grim expression on her face.

Sara blanched, the arrangement to meet having slipped her mind.