‘This place looks unbelievable,’ she told Angie.

‘Thanks,’ Angie replied, switching on the kettle and fetching mugs. ‘It was one of the most stressful things we’ve ever done but now it’s finished, I feel like we’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope the refurbishment work wasn’t too noisy for you?’

The constant drilling had been horrific but Sophie shook her head politely. ‘Not at all, it was absolutely fine,’ she lied.

‘They’ve just finished the loft too, so we’ve finally moved upstairs into our new bedroom. Indie is ecstatic to have a room all to herself. Would you like a little tour?’

‘Yes please,’ Sophie said enthusiastically, relishing the chance to have a nose around. Angie led her from room to room, each one looking as beautiful as the next, and Sophie felt a pang of envy. She loved their family home, it was a happy, lived-in space, but it was cluttered and starting to look a little worn out too. In contrast, Angie and Jack had created something that looked like an Instagram show home. Sophie knew that even if they had the money to spend on that quality of furniture, fixtures and fittings, she simply didn’t have the eye for it and there was no way she’d be able to make it look as stylish as this. Even the children’s toys had been arranged perfectly into some sort of Scandi-style storage that definitely didn’t come from Ikea, stacked away into neat cubby holes along one length of the front room, which Angie referred to as the den.

‘This is the children’s space,’ she explained. ‘They can hang out here with their friends, play, watch TV, paint, whatever they like. Then when they’ve gone to bed, I can close the door and shut away the mess.’

Lucky kids, Sophie thought, as she considered the mess that permeated every room of her own house. The loft room was equally impressive, with a modern four poster bed and even a small dressing room with racks for Angie’s endless collection of shoes and boots. In a little nook to the side of the bedroom was a desk with a computer on it.

‘Our study for when we work from home,’ Angie explained.

‘It’s absolutely amazing, the whole house,’ Sophie told her. ‘You must be so pleased.’

‘I’m getting there,’ Angie said. ‘The whole thing was incredibly difficult – the noise, the chaos, the dust. We escaped as often as we could and tried to spend as much time out of the house as possible. Tempers got rather frayed and by the end of it, I think we were all pretty sick of it, and each other. But now it’s done, I can see that it’s been worth the effort.’

They headed back downstairs and Angie finished making the tea while Sophie checked on the children, who were still up in the treehouse.

‘They have a secret stash of snacks up there, so we probably won’t see them for a while,’ Angie said when she came back. It was all so perfect – the beautiful home, the treehouse, the outdoorsy, independent children. Sophie wondered again how Angie had time to do it all and look so well turned out at the same time. Glancing down at her jeans and faded jumper, she couldn’t help but feel out of place in this pristine house.