They linked arms as they left the house. Tim had his window down and his forearm resting on the frame, and he was drumming the door lightly with his fingertips. His smile took in both girls as they teetered down the front path in their high heels. He winked.

‘Well, look at you,’ he said.

She grinned, unsure whether he was teasing. You could never tell with Tim Ritchie. He took the piss a lot.

Nick scowled at his father and slid into the front. Taisie sat behind him. The car smelled of leather and Tim had Pulp playing on the CD player. There wasn’t much legroom, but she and Rosa opened their windows and rested their elbows on the frames, like Tim, and smirked at each other. Taisie glanced at Nick’s profile and fantasized about him kissing her again. It was amazing how much had changed. She didn’t see him as a kid any more; but as someone with potential. Despite the angry crop of spots at the corners of his jaw, his dad’s aura of cool was beginning to rub off on him.

GRACE

Thursday, 12 April 2018

LOTTIE IS LAYING THE TABLE WHEN NICK GETS BACK. I’m standing beside the hob with a glass of wine in my hand, waiting for the potatoes to cook through so that I can mash them. The door thuds, his keys clatter in the lopsided blue-and-red dish that Lottie made in Year 3. He comes in and passes me the shopping bag, stopping to ruffle Lottie’s hair.

She pushes his hand away. ‘Nick! I’m not three years old.’

Once upon a time I tried to get her to call him Dad or even Daddy Nick, but she wasn’t having it. My ex, Douglas, is Dad, for better or for worse.

I prod a potato with a fork, then switch off the heat and drain the water out of the pan. Nick rests his hands on my waist and plants a kiss on the back of my neck.

‘Oh God,’ Lottie groans. ‘Please don’t do that in front of me. It’s gross.’

‘Dangerous too,’ I say, as steam billows into my face. ‘Do you know how many accidents happen in the kitchen?’

‘Nope. Do you?’

‘No. But I’m sure there’s a scary statistic. So, did you bump into anyone?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Just wondering. You were longer than I expected.’

He takes the potato masher out of my hand. ‘Here, let me do that. No, I didn’t see anyone we knew. I walked further than I meant to. It’s gorgeous out there this evening. It feels like summer’s come early.’