I’m going for the Oakleys, I decide, and slide them on. Minnie comes running into the hall, and I take her hand to survey our reflection in the mirror. She’s in a cute little yellow sundress and white sunglasses and her ponytail is held back with an adorable bumble-bee. I think we’ll pass. We look like an LA mother and daughter.

‘All set?’ I say to Minnie. ‘You’re going to have such a lovely time at pre-school! You’ll play games, and maybe make lovely cupcakes with sprinkles on …’

‘Becky.’ Luke tries again. ‘I was just looking under the bed and I found this.’ He holds up a garment carrier. ‘Is it yours? What’s it doing there?’

‘Oh.’

I adjust Minnie’s ponytail, playing for time. Damn. Why is he looking under the bed? He’s a busy LA mover and shaker. How does he have time to look under beds?

‘It’s for Sage,’ I say at last.

‘For Sage? You’ve bought Sage a full-length fake-fur coat?’ He stares at me in astonishment.

Honestly, he hasn’t even looked at it properly. It’s not full-length, it’s to mid-thigh.

‘I think it’ll suit her,’ I explain. ‘It’ll go with her hair colour. It’s a really different look for her.’

Luke appears absolutely baffled. ‘But why are you buying her clothes? You don’t even know her.’

‘I don’t know her yet,’ I correct him. ‘But you are going to introduce us, aren’t you?’

‘Well, yes, at some point.’

‘So! You know I want to get into styling, and Sage would be the perfect client. So I’ve been putting some looks together for her. That’s all.’

‘Wait a minute.’ Luke’s face changes. ‘There were some other bags under the bed, too. Don’t tell me—’

I curse myself silently. I should never, ever put anything under the bed.

‘Is that all shopping for Sage?’

He looks so aghast, I feel defensive. First Suze, now Luke. Don’t they understand anything about setting up a business? Don’t they understand that to be a clothes stylist you need clothes? They wouldn’t expect me to be a tennis player and not have a tennis racket.

‘It’s not “shopping”! It’s essential business expenses. It’s like you buying paperclips. Or photocopiers. Anyway, I’ve used all those clothes for my portfolio, too,’ I add robustly. ‘I took some brilliant pictures of Suze. So actually, I’ve saved money.’

Luke doesn’t seem convinced. ‘How much have you spent?’ he demands.

‘I don’t think we should talk about money in front of Minnie,’ I say primly, and take her hand.

‘Becky …’ Luke gives me a long, sort of sighing look. His mouth is tucked in at one side and his eyebrows are in a ‘V’ shape. This is another of Luke’s expressions I’m familiar with. It means: ‘How am I going to break this to Becky without her overreacting?’

(Which is very unfair, because I never overreact.)

‘What?’ I say. ‘What is it?’

Luke doesn’t answer straight away. He walks over to one of the monster armchairs and fiddles with a striped Mexican throw. You might almost say that he’s putting the armchair between himself and me.