‘But it may not be a completely lost cause. Pip thought we should at least try.’ Edie hoped she wasn’t blushing too much.

‘Lyssa will be home before too long,’ Lee said. ‘Can’t she sort it out herself when she gets back?’

‘It may be too late then,’ Edie said in what she hoped was a cryptic manner. ‘I could hardly say no.’

‘Well, he won’t know what’s hit him,’ Lee observed. ‘You look like you’re auditioning for a part in Saturday Night Fever.’

‘Thanks.’ Edie had thought her outfit was really trendy when she’d bought it. Now as she looked at the short, geometric-print dress in the harsh light of day, she wasn’t altogether sure. It would probably look a lot better on Kelly or anyone under twenty-five.

‘What are those two white things hanging out of the end of it?’

‘My legs,’ Edie supplied.

‘Good grief,’ Lee said. ‘Really? When did I last see those?’

‘When did you last ask nicely?’ his wife retorted.

‘I think you look pretty, Mummy,’ Daisy offered as she chased her rabbit, Justin—after Justin Timberlake—down the hall.

‘Thank you,’ Edie said. ‘That doesn’t mean Justin can stay in the house. Take him out to the garden.’

Daisy picked up the rabbit and stomped out.

‘Do you think you could take Archie to your mother’s on the way?’

‘No,’ Edie said. ‘You’ll have to look after him.’

‘Oh, Edie, I’ve got loads to do. I can’t sit and watch Archie all the time.’

‘You promised,’ Edie reminded him. ‘Anyway, how often do I leave you with the kids? Get Kelly to watch him.’

Her daughter shot down the stairs. ‘Not me,’ she said. ‘I’m out of here.’ And before Edie could protest, the front door slammed in her wake.

‘Where’s she going?’ Edie demanded.

‘You don’t think she told me, do you?’ Lee said. ‘But judging by the amount of make-up she was wearing, it will probably involve making some poor, unsuspecting youth feel inadequate.’

‘What are the others up to?’

‘No good of some description,’ Lee said with a smile. ‘When I last saw Anna, she was trying to tattoo her tummy with a marker pen. Liam and Mark are in the garden pretending to play football while trampling what few surviving green things we have left.’

Archie filled the gap with several off-key, staccato bursts. ‘Archie, stop that,’ she snapped.

Archie promptly burst into tears.

For some stupid reason, Edie felt tears springing to her eyes too. ‘We really have lost our grip on this lot.’

Lee put his hammer down and lifted up their screaming son, who promptly stopped.