‘It’s just, when Josh acts like a little kid, and I get a bit stroppy,’ Holly went on awkwardly, ‘she might not think we are, and…’ She trailed off with a disconsolate shrug. ‘Would you tell her?’

She was eleven. Josh was ten. Jesus. Jason sucked in a breath. ‘I will,’ he promised, and then reached out to her, yanking her close as she launched herself into his arms.

‘We’re your friends, as well, Dad,’ Holly said into his shoulder, her voice muffled, as he crouched to give her a firm hug.

‘I know, sweetheart,’ Jason said, his throat hoarse. ‘We both love you very much. You know that, right?’ Such a fucking cliché, he thought, swiping a tear from his face and then hugging her tighter.

Half an hour later, with Holly and Josh safely in bed, Jason went back to the kitchen. It was a mess. Stuff everywhere, the washing basket and bin overflowing, yesterday’s dinner plates stacked in the sink. The dishwasher still wasn’t working properly. It was on his list, but he hadn’t got around to it yet. It wasn’t Karla’s job to clean up during the week, but she always had. Jason wondered how she’d done it. How she hadn’t come to the end of her tether – juggling her job, the house and the children; lunches, school runs, sick days, holidays. He’d always helped on Sundays with general housework, gardening and shopping, but with him working all the hours under the sun on weekdays, the load had fallen on Karla. He hadn’t realised how heavy a load it was.

He was stuffing clothes in the washing machine when his phone beeped. Scrambling it from his pocket, he cursed as he almost dropped it, and then checked his messages. Jessie. Jason felt his spirits lift. Banging the washing machine door to, he read the message on his way back to the sink to tackle the washing up, and then stopped and raised his eyebrows in bemusement.

I’ve had a body piercing, he read. Fancy a gander?

Will I be shocked? Jason sent back.

Don’t worry. It’s not a nipple piercing.

Taken aback, Jason hesitated before answering, then, Pity, he typed.

Sex wasn’t foremost in his mind. He wondered if it would ever be, given that his thoughts were constantly on Karla, on what they’d lost, which not so long ago, had been pretty special. Even knowing that Karla and he could never be together again, he felt guilty. He should be giving her time to move on without him before doing this. Except he needed it – someone in his life when there was no one else; someone who was easy to talk to and didn’t make demands he couldn’t live up to.

Bad boy, Jessie sent swiftly back, along with an attachment.