‘Don’t burn them this time, Mummy,’ Jamie adds.

‘I’ll try not to.’ I give him my most serious look and we all burst out laughing. ‘Right, go wash your hands and get changed. I’ll start cooking tea.’

‘And I’m helping,’ Alice says.

‘Me too.’ Jamie doesn’t want to be left out.

‘After you’ve got changed.’

They run up the stairs and I try to hold onto their enthusiasm as I go through to the kitchen. I turn on the grill and nervously check my phone. There’s a message from Toby, saying he’s going to be a bit late home. Probably because he had an extended lunch break, I think bitterly. But immediately I shake myself free from that line of thinking. No point getting worked up before I even know what their meet-up was all about.

This time, with the help of my children, I manage not to burn their fish fingers, and they enjoy supper at the kitchen table while regaling me with stories of their day. My husband still hasn’t appeared. It’s not like him to be this late unless he’s on council business. As a landscape gardener, it’s more practical for him to start early and finish before it gets dark which, at this time of year, is around four thirty. It’s now almost six thirty.

I let the children watch half an hour of TV before we go upstairs, where I help them get ready for bed, followed by a story in Alice’s room. I’m just coming to the end of the chapter when I hear a key in the door, followed by the sound of my husband walking into the hallway. My heart thuds, and I realise I’m nervous.

‘Daddy!’ The kids jump out of bed and race out of the bedroom and down the stairs. I don’t even bother trying to call them back. They’ll want to jump all over their father for a good five minutes. Instead, I tidy round my daughter’s room, putting away clothes and other bits and pieces. After a while, I hear the clomp of their footsteps coming upstairs. Toby pokes his head around the door.

‘There you are. What are you doing up here?’

‘Hi, just having a tidy up.’ I can’t even look him in the eye. ‘You’re late back.’

‘I know, sorry. Nick wanted to have a drink after work.’

‘Oh? Anything the matter?’

‘The matter?’ he repeats. ‘No, just a drink to unwind. It’s been a long day.’

Jamie and Alice have climbed back into her bed. ‘Can you finish the story, Mum?’ Alice asks.