Christy handled things differently.

“Sorry, you rang in the busy hour.” She managed to inject just the right amount of fake breeziness into her voice. “I’m cleaning up more paint than you’ve seen in your life. Have fun at your event. Talk soon.”

She ended the call and walked blindly back into the kitchen, barely hearing Holly when she protested that she’d wanted to talk to Aunty Alix.

She had to keep busy. Yes, that was the answer.

She switched on the oven to reheat the casserole she’d made earlier. Then she finished stacking the dishwasher. Her hands were shaking so badly one of the plates slipped from her fingers and crashed on the floor, scattering shards of china across the tiles.

Holly screamed and jumped on the chair.

Christy found herself thinking that at least clearing up the mess gave her something to do. Another job to fill those yawning gaps where stress and anxiety tried to take hold.

“It’s okay. Stay calm. Don’t move. I’ll fix this.” She was talking to herself as much as her daughter.

She took a breath and tipped the broken pieces of china into the bin.

“Mummy? Why are you crying?”

Was she crying? She pressed her palm to her cheek and felt dampness. She was crying. “Mummy’s a little sniffy, that’s all.” She blew her nose. “Maybe I’m getting a cold.”

Holly scrambled from the chair and wrapped her arms around Christy’s legs. “Kisses mend everything.”

“That’s right, they do.” If only that was all it took. She scooped up her daughter and hugged her tightly.

“It will soon be Christmas.”

Christmas. Family time.

Emotion clogged her throat and swelled in her chest. She couldn’t confront Seb before Christmas. No way. It would be better to pretend everything was normal. She could do that. She was used to doing that.

“Time for bed.” She scooped Holly into her arms. “You’re getting too big to carry.”

“I want to wait for Daddy. I want Daddy to kiss me good-night.”

“Daddy is going to be late tonight.” She carried Holly upstairs, operating on automatic.

“Will we see a reindeer in Lapland?”

“I’m sure we’ll see a reindeer.” She refused to allow emotion to intrude on this time with her child, but the effort required was so great that, by the time she’d finished bath time and read two stories, she was almost ready for bed herself.

She switched on the night-light that sent a blue-and-green glow swirling across the ceiling.

When they’d first moved in, Christy had suggested a princess bedroom like the one she’d had as a child, but Holly was fascinated by snow and ice and wanted her bedroom to look like a polar research station. When I grow up I’m going to be a scientist like Uncle Zac. It had taken a while to agree to a design they could build themselves, but Seb and Zac had finally transformed the room the month before. As the men worked on the structure, Christy had painted snowfields and mountains on the wall opposite the bed and tried not to be disappointed as her dream of floaty canopies, fairy lights and plenty of soft pink had been supplanted by steel gray for the so-called laboratory area and sleeping shelf.