‘Here she is,’ Harry announced as he made his way towards her, reaching out his arms and leaning forward to kiss Laura on the cheek. He grinned and then seemed to register why she was standing awkwardly in the middle of the floor, for he added quickly, ‘Come on into my office. Let’s catch up.’

Laura followed him through and, once they were inside and Harry had kicked the door shut behind him, he said, ‘God, we’ve missed you around here. The place has nearly fallen apart.’

‘Really?’ she asked hopefully, despite the fact that she knew this was exactly the kind of thing Harry would say, whether he meant it or not.

‘Please tell me you aren’t going to be having any more kids,’ he joked.

‘Harry, you can’t say things like that.’

‘Oh, come on – you know what I mean.’

‘Well, after that birth, I don’t think I’m going to be pushing any more out just yet.’

‘Okay, too much info,’ he said. ‘But seriously, it’s so good to have you back.’ He held her at arm’s length, his eyes roaming her face. ‘You look wonderful. Motherhood suits you.’

‘Thank you.’ Laura blushed and pulled away, glancing through the glass window of his office to those sitting at their desks on the other side of it. Everyone could see into Harry’s office; she had felt their eyes on her enough times over the years, most likely wondering what was being discussed between them, and probably drawing their own ridiculous conclusions about why she was in there again. Rumours were as rife in Morris & Wood as they were in any other office, and Laura wasn’t naïve enough to think she had escaped being the subject of gossip. But this morning no one was watching, not even Mia.

‘How’s the little one?’ Harry asked.

‘Bobby’s fine. He’s six months already. I can’t believe where the time’s gone.’

‘It flies fast, I know. Ella’s starting secondary this September. It makes me feel ill. Or maybe that’s just the hike in fees.’ His mouth skewed into a lopsided smile that made Laura cringe. Harry had a habit of brazenly throwing money into the conversation, and she was never quite sure if he did it on purpose or whether he genuinely had no idea how other people might take it.

‘So anyway,’ he went on. ‘How are you feeling? Ready to get back into it?’

‘Totally,’ Laura nodded. ‘Only’ – she indicated out of the window – ‘Mia seems to be sitting at my desk.’

‘Oh, that’s not a problem,’ he said. ‘She likely forgot you were due back this morning.’ His eyes lingered on Mia for a moment, before he turned back to Laura. ‘She’s done a good job. You were right on the money when you told me to hire her.’