On impulse, and buoyed up by the prosecco, I leaned across the table and kissed him full on the mouth. I was never usually so bold. I don’t know what came over me. He seemed startled at first. Then, taking my face in his hands, he kissed me back, and suddenly the restaurant seemed to blur into the background. I didn’t care who was looking. At that moment, it was as though we were the only two people in the world.

And so it began. From then on, we became virtually inseparable, and even though we had only been together a couple of months, I didn’t have to think twice when he asked me to move in with him. I had reeled in my big fish and I wasn’t about to throw him back for anyone.

CHAPTER 3

Four years after meeting Jack and with the impending arrival of a child, both our lives had changed beyond recognition, and definitely for the better. He was keen to support me throughout my pregnancy; I lost a little blood in the early weeks, something which freaked me out at the time. The doctor later explained it was quite common, but it sent Jack into a flat spin and he persuaded me I didn’t need to overstretch myself by taking on too much work, saying that we could manage on his wages, at least for the next eighteen months or so. I have to admit I was feeling very tired, and although I didn’t want to stop writing completely, I was relieved at the thought of less pressure. Being prone to anxiety anyway, anything that would alleviate this was welcome and I was grateful not to have the additional worry of work on top of that of sustaining my own health for the sake of our baby.

While the majority of my work to date had been in the form of articles for various magazines, I’d had the odd lengthier commission, which was generally a bit more lucrative but inevitably involved more research and hence a lot more hard graft. The previous year I had ghost-written an autobiography for a successful young businesswoman from the West Midlands. It was an inspiring tale of triumph over adversity – she had left school with no qualifications but built up a successful recycling firm and had subsequently generated jobs within her community, plus raised not insignificant funds for local charities. I’d taken the somewhat unusual option of agreeing to receive a portion of the royalties rather than receiving an upfront fee, and thankfully the gamble had paid off. Royalties from this book were still trickling in and meant I had a little income to contribute to the bills. The plan was that I should resume everything in earnest once the baby had passed his or her first birthday, which suited me fine.