She wiped the arm of her sleeve across her face, collecting the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. She didn’t want to think about what had happened after Saskia’s boyfriend had left. How things had got so much worse for her in the following months. How she’d wound up making herself ill. ‘This is not the same thing. I want you to trust me on that,’ she said.

‘All I want is for us all to be happy,’ Nate replied softly. ‘And I don’t think any of us are at the moment. I want you home more, Laura.’

She didn’t answer.

‘I want you to come home earlier. I need you to. From now on, at least three times a week I want you to commit to leaving at five. That’s not unreasonable,’ he added.

She continued to stare at him.

‘I’m not asking much. I simply need to know that you’re still a part of this family. I want you to come back and be here for tea and bathtime sometimes.’

‘But I can’t …’ she muttered. ‘I can’t promise I can do that three times a week.’ She knew it was impossible. Not now that she had the tender hanging over her. The only way she could do what Nate was asking was by admitting to Harry that she couldn’t take on this new project. And if she did that, there was no way he’d risk losing Mia.

Nate let out a laugh, but it was one that suggested he was anything but happy. ‘Are you serious?’

‘I am – I just … I can’t commit to doing that, Nate. I’m not saying I won’t try, because I will, but you can’t force this onto me. You know what my work’s like; you know I have to work around the clock when the clients demand it – that’s the way it’s always been.’

‘No,’ he said, ‘that’s not the way it’s always been. Because everything’s different now. We have a baby. You have a baby. And besides, you’re working more, Laura. More than you ever did before.’

‘I’m not. I—’

‘You are,’ he snapped. ‘And you know it. Shit, Laura, if you can’t even accept that, we’ve got no bloody hope.’ He pulled himself off the sofa and stormed out of the room. Laura sank back into it, inhaling a deep breath that caught in her throat.

‘Okay,’ she cried, calling after him. ‘Okay, Nate, I’ll come home early, three times a week. I’ll do it,’ she sobbed.

Nate appeared in the doorway again, leaning against the frame as he watched her carefully. ‘That’s all I want,’ he said. ‘I just want you to try.’

Tuesday 14 May

Interview between DC Emily Marlow and Laura Denning, following the fire on Monday 13 May