If someone had told Clio two months earlier that she would have a new friend who was a single mother of two and living in a tiny terraced house in Whitley Bay, she would have thought they were quite mad. Yet this was now her reality, and Clio found that she was happier than she had been in years. The only dark shadows were those that reared up if she allowed herself to think about the death of her father, but as time passed she was becoming better at keeping them at bay. They were less likely to ambush her than they had been, and Clio found that when she was with Leah she could even forget about them for a while.

She couldn’t quite put her finger on what she found so very appealing about Leah, other than the obvious, of course. It was Leah’s honesty, she thought, at least in part, and also her downright indefatigability. No matter what life threw at her, she just seemed to absorb it or shrug it off. Nothing fazed her, and Clio found this fascinating. In truth, not much fazed Clio either, but that was because she had always had the cushion of wealth and privilege to protect her. Leah had none of that, but she still felt indestructible to Clio. She also had no expectations of their friendship, or none that Clio could discern. Leah put precisely no pressure on her. There was no need to be seen at this restaurant or to carry that handbag or get invited to the party of the year, as there was with the other women with whom Clio spent time. It was all so very refreshing.

However, chatting on social media could only take them so far. What Clio needed now was to think of something for them to do together, preferably away from their homes so that the differences between their lifestyles didn’t get in the way any more than it had to. It should also be something that the children would enjoy, as it was clear that wherever Leah went, her children went too.

But what did families do together that was fun? Clio couldn’t remember ever going out on family trips when she was younger. When Hector was home from school for the holidays, they went abroad. The rest of the time they had mainly kicked around at the Hall, inviting schoolfriends over from time to time. She had never considered there to be much wrong with this when she’d been growing up, but now she could see how very out of sync with real life it actually was.

She flicked open her laptop and typed ‘Family things to do in Newcastle’ into Google. A plethora of pages popped up and Clio let out a sharp breath. Where to start? She dived in, clicking and rejecting her way down the list.