“Hey, Liv, sweetie,” she said. “The electricity in my shed isn’t working. I have to vlog in here today.” She pointed both index fingers at her face. “I have to gush about dermaplaning while suffering from a migraine.” She said it as if she had to address the United Nations about world peace and had lost her voice.

“What’s dermaplaning?” Liv said.

“It’s a beauty treatment. A dermatologist uses a scalpel to scrape away the top layer of skin and the peach fuzz. It helps to...” Hannah stopped and fixed her eyes on Liv’s complexion. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. It’s kind of a premium treatment.”

Liv’s head felt floaty from the insult. She wanted to tell Hannah she was leaving but the woman was busy swallowing down herbal headache tablets with a glass of San Pellegrino. “Do you want me to clean today, or look after your children?” she said stiffly.

“Just do both, okay, sweetie. Walt and I will be busy bees all day.”

Liv glowered as she cleaned the dual black marble sinks and heated mirrors in the bathroom. In their bedroom, Tarkers and Jules had pulled out a suitcase full of old clothes and played a game, mimicking their parents.

“Walt, sweetie,” Jules said, wearing a Victoria Beckham dress with her hand on her hip. “I said dark chocolate with an eighty percent cocoa content, not fifty.”

Liv pressed her lips together and tried not to laugh. She sprayed the shower tiles and wiped them down.

“Sorry, darling,” Tarkers said. “It’s not my mistake, I was busy with my therapist.”

“Well, who got it wrong?” Jules let out a shuddering sigh. “Probably Liv. She knows nothing about quality. I should take it out of her wages.”

“No, you can’t do that. How will she afford her abominable T-shirts?”

Liv gripped her cleaning cloth. She swallowed away a sour taste that appeared at the back of her mouth. The children were probably only repeating what they’d heard from their parents. She shoved all her cleaning things back in their box, dumped it in the bath and headed into their bedroom.

“Hey, Tarkers, Jules. Your mummy and daddy are busy all day. Again. Why don’t you give them a nice surprise?” she said.

The kids looked at each other. Jules peeled off the VB dress and kicked it off the end of her foot.

Liv smiled and left it lying on the floor. “I’m sure I overheard your mother saying she’d love some of your super handprints decorating her bedroom wall.”

Jules folded her arms and her rosebud mouth pouted. “We’re not allowed to do that.”

Tarkers dug her in the waist with his elbow. “It’s artistic freedom,” he said solemnly, but had a wicked glint in his eye.