The truth was that she was worried about speaking to Harry because she hated the thought of him selling her out. And if he told her that the reason he’d made Mia permanent was because she was doing such a fantastic bloody job, then where did that leave Laura?

She closed the fridge door and pressed her head against it, shutting her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Nate,’ she cried. ‘I’m so bloody sorry, this wasn’t what it was supposed to be like.’

‘Hey, it’s okay,’ he said.

‘No, it’s not. I don’t want to spend my time with you and Bobby thinking about her, but that’s all I’m doing. Why the hell does Mia want my job, Nate?’ she said, banging a hand against the door and knocking a magnet to the floor. ‘I don’t trust her,’ she said, airing the thought that had been plaguing her all week. ‘I don’t trust Mia Anderson one bit.’

On Monday morning, as she walked in, Laura bypassed Mia, who was yet again already at her desk, and headed straight to Harry’s office.

‘Morning, morning,’ he beckoned her in cheerily. ‘Good weekend?’

‘Yes, great, thanks.’

‘And how’s the little man?’

‘Bobby?’ she prompted. ‘He’s doing good, I just …’

‘Is he sleeping through? God, the girls didn’t sleep through until they were one, as far as I remember. Neither of them. Of course we had the nanny then – Janie didn’t have to worry about getting up in the night.’ He shook his head and laughed. ‘I wouldn’t want to go through that again,’ he said, though Laura wondered how much it had actually affected him personally anyway. ‘How was the first week back?’

‘Well, actually, Harry, that’s what I want to talk to you about.’

He nodded, straightening his chair with his desk, and leaned back, crossing his legs. Now that Laura was in front of him, the words she had prepared earlier had dried in her mouth, leaving her with a bitter taste and an inability to find them. For the first time since she’d started working for Harry she felt the need to tread carefully, because she no longer understood what was going on.

She pulled out a chair on the other side of his desk and sat down, inhaling a deep breath. ‘I hear that Mia’s been made permanent. You didn’t tell me.’

‘Right.’ He shifted slightly, his eyes flickering, enough to tell her that he wasn’t comfortable. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t, I just wanted you to settle back in last week.’

‘I’m having a hard time getting my head round it,’ Laura said. ‘I don’t understand why.’

‘Well, it’s like I said. She’s done a great job …’ His words fizzled out as she shook her head. ‘I didn’t think we should lose her.’