Luckily, she’d timed it well with the wine and Chris had agreed, no doubt buoyed by the thought of the extra income from her salary. While he earned well, the pressure to succeed was constant and with the two of them working, perhaps he would be able to take it a little easier, thought Claire, as she finished reading the story to Jamie with her best impersonation of a Gruffalo. She knew how stressful it was relying on one salary especially with their high standard of living – their mortgage payments alone were eye-watering. But as Claire finished reading and closed the book, the little mouse safe in the wood eating his nut, she knew she was ready to take on more demanding and lucrative cases.

*

Claire was trying not to panic. She’d just finished the last of the six nanny interviews she’d set up for the day and not one of them was suitable, despite them all being brilliant on paper. She thought of Viktoriya who had a flawless CV written in English but then could barely utter two understandable sentences. Or Rebecca, who spent most of the interview showing Claire her Instagram account and explaining how she had big dreams of becoming the next Kim Kardashian.

Why would I hand my child over to you?

Sighing, Claire went back to her laptop on the kitchen table and started a search in her inbox again. Maybe she’d missed someone? But as she started to reread the CVs, she knew she hadn’t. She’d received a lot of rubbish and the interviews today were the best of a bad lot. She sighed, pushing the laptop away from her.

‘You look like you need a strong cup of tea,’ said Irene, her broad Yorkshire accent reminding Claire of childhood days out in the Dales. ‘Shall I make you one?’

‘Thank you, Irene, that would be lovely,’ she replied as Jamie came storming through to the kitchen, a rocket in his hand, which was swooping precariously close to the biscuit tin.

‘Mummy! Do you want to play rockets with me? I’m going to visit the moon!’

‘I’d love to, Jamie,’ replied Claire, swiftly moving the biscuit tin out of Jamie’s path, ‘but Mummy has a few things to do first. What are you going to do on the moon?’

‘I’m going to play Snakes and Ladders,’ announced Jamie.

‘Oh, well that sounds like a lot fun. Why don’t you go upstairs and put on your astronaut suit, then you’ll be ready for your rocket trip.’