She hesitates. ‘No, we’re still going to London. Kim’s going to have the girls for me instead.’

‘Kim?’ Kim is a good friend of Madeline’s. Her daughter goes to school with my daughter, Alice. ‘But I thought—’

‘It’s just with the party coming up, Nick and I thought you had enough on your plate.’ Her words are clipped.

‘No, not at all,’ I try to reassure her. One of the juniors, Lily, comes into the staffroom and heads towards the kettle. I debate whether or not to go outside for more privacy, but I don’t think I’ll have time before my next client. Instead, I try to inject some lightness into my voice. ‘Alice and Jamie are really looking forward to it, so there’s really no need for Kim to have them. I was planning on doing makeovers with Beth and Alice, and baking with Freya and Jamie. It’ll be fun.’

‘Well, sorry about that, but I’ve arranged it with Kim now, so you don’t need to worry.’ Madeline sounds strangely defensive and formal, and I get a small knot in my stomach. An inkling that something odd might be going on.

Over on the sofa, despite my attempt at levity, Becky must sense my distress because she’s mouthing if everything’s all right. I shake my head in response and shrug.

‘Madeline, is something wrong? Have I done something to—’

‘Sorry, Zoe, I’m busy at work. Got to go.’ The line goes dead. What the hell? I’m not having that. I call her back, my mind thick with confusion. I’ve never been good at confrontation, but I can’t leave things as they are.

‘Hello—’

‘Madeline, is everything…’

‘Sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you’d like to leave a message I’ll get back to you.’

Damn! Voicemail. I wait for the beep and leave a quick message, keeping my voice low. ‘Madeline, is everything okay? I get the feeling you might be annoyed about something. Maybe I’m imagining it, I don’t know. Anyway, can you call me back, put my mind at rest? This is Zoe.’

I end the call and slump in my seat, staring at my phone screen, wondering if she will actually ring me back, or whether she’ll ignore me. I don’t buy her excuse that she had to go because she was too busy.

‘What was all that about?’ Becky asks. ‘You okay?’