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‘She hasn’t actually accepted the job yet, Mike,’ Amanda said, embarrassed. ‘This is her interview.’

‘I have. I mean, I am. Now. Accepting the job, I mean,’ Juliet told her.

Amanda was palpably relieved. ‘Oh my god! That’s fantastic.’ She sighed dreamily. ‘I can’t believe I can go back to work! I might even go to the gym occasionally.’

‘Yeah, been a while, hasn’t it?’ Mike said, casting a quick assessing look down his wife’s body.

Amanda blushed and tried to fake a laugh. ‘Yeah, I guess.’

Juliet knew right then she didn’t like Mike. But she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have that many dealings with him. Hopefully, it would be all about Mia with pop-ins from Amanda. If Mike was kept to a minimum, this job could be good. Mia was deep into the terrible twos, but Juliet relished the challenge of guiding her out the other side of them.

‘Are we sorted here, then?’ Mike asked, already picking up his laptop from the chair.

‘Yeah, I’ll take her now,’ Amanda said.

Mike had already disappeared into the house. Amanda turned to Juliet. ‘He’s got a lot on at the moment. Very stressed with work. Not to mention…’ Amanda sighed. ‘His, er, his other daughter just moved in. From his previous marriage.’

‘Did she?’

‘Yeah. She ran into a bit of trouble and er, yeah, had to come and stay with us for a bit. She’s about your age, actually. Great girl. Only, they clash a bit, Mike and her. Anyway, you don’t need to hear about that. Stop babbling, Amanda! Are you OK to start on Monday?’

‘Sure,’ Juliet smiled, deciding she liked Amanda.

‘God, that’s really, really great,’ Amanda said, practically giddy. She glanced at Mia. ‘I mean, not that I don’t love being around her.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I just need to go back to work.’

She knew Amanda was battling with the age-old problem—Mummy guilt. Juliet had watched Helen go through it. You were supposed to do everything perfectly during an exhaustion you’d never known whilst telling everyone you’d never been so fulfilled. It was a bullshit deal. ‘Every mother I’ve ever met has needed a life besides their children’s. It’s healthy.’

Amanda looked quite keen on that take, though she had reservations. ‘But my husband… He was thinking,wethought, she should be raised to school age by me. But lately, I just feel like…’

‘You need to be around adults again,’ Juliet finished confidently.

Amanda’s smile was wide. ‘You get it.’

Juliet nodded. ‘So, Monday morning?’

‘Yes. I was thinking eight thirty till six, Monday to Friday?’

‘That’s great.’

Nearby, Mia admonished her teddy for drinking too much tea. ‘Teddy! Save some for Rabbit!’ She pushed him over. As he lay on the ground, Mia was further outraged. ‘Don’t go sleep! It’s not naptime!’ She picked him up, walked over to the pool gate, and lobbed him clean over, right into the pool.

‘Her language is coming along,’ Juliet said, looking for an upside.

Amanda sighed. ‘She called me “shit for brains” yesterday. I think she heard it when Mike was on a work call.’

Juliet wasn’t too shocked. Kids were sponges. ‘That’s quite a tough sentence. Impressive.’

‘I can tell we’re going to get along great,’ Amanda laughed.

As Amanda escorted Juliet back through the house, back to the front door, Juliet heard stirring from above. Amanda turned to the stairs. ‘Oh, that’ll be Riley.’

Juliet froze. ‘Riley?’

Four

Riley checked her watch; it was three on a Saturday. Her dad would be at home on the pretence he was having his weekend, but he’d almost certainly be in his office working. He worked in capital management and could never really be ripped away from the Dow. The upside was that she could risk leaving her room. She didn’t want to see his face for a few days. Hard now she was living with the bastard. But she really couldn’t think of anywhere else to stay while she got sorted.

Her first thought had been her mum, but she’d moved out to Copenhagen a few years ago after she married a Danish brain surgeon she met whilst skiing in the Alps. Riley wouldn’t have minded a break in Copenhagen. But she had work, and it was a hell of a commute. Nine to five, she worked in the marketing department for a homeless charity,Helping Hand. If Riley hadn’t known the realities of homelessness, she’d have been tempted to call the situation ironic. But the people they helped didn’t have this fallback. Not by a long chalk.