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“Yes.” I did. Happy times. “We tried to use that outdoor gym.”

“Couldn’t even do five minutes on those monkey bars.”

“But we had fun. The kids thought it was brilliant.”

“They did. Quality time.”

“Silver linings,” I said softly. “An unexpected bonus of being unemployable. Less stress. A lot of fun.”

“Zero income.” He smirked. “Still don’t like that part.”

“You’re the house husband,” I teased.

“Full-time student, thank you very much. And one day, I’ll have a degree. A proper job. It’ll just take some time. And in the meantime, I get to hang out with my kids.”

“And me.”

“And your new hot boyfriend.”

“He’s nice, Reubs. Very normal. Has lived a bit. He’s smart. And he loves his kids more than he loves anything else in the world.”

“Relatable,” he said flatly. “Speaking of which, I need to take Jas to buy a new school uniform, and then Jay has piano later. Also, I need to get a shop done, and both kids need to see the dentist. Busy day.”

“Need a hand?”

“I’ll text you. Might need dinner sorting. I’ll let you know.”

“Reubs?”

“Yes?”

“I love that you’re back. I needed this. You here. The kids. Normality.”

“Me too,” he said. And in that moment, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Two hours later, I was standing in Arrivals at Heathrow, my heart still beating too fast after barely getting here on time. I’d forgotten how insane the London trafficcould be, and the walk from the car park to the Arrivals hall was like running a marathon. I felt out of breath and nervous, and I suddenly didn’t know how to behave around Dylan, who was standing there tapping his feet impatiently.

“Baggage arriving,” he said nervously, pointing at the screen. “And I added Constance back on Find My Friends, but she’s not accepted.”

“Probably hasn’t got network,” I said, like I understood all these things. I wanted to hold his hand, put my arms around him and reassure him that everything was all right. That those kids had been put on that plane and this wasn’t another of his ex-wife’s cruel games.

I’d started to understand where his nerves came from because the more I learnt of his past life, if that had been me, I would probably have crumbled too.

“They’ll be there. Gun Larsen said they would.”

“I don’t trust anyone anymore.”

“You trust me?”

He laughed nervously, rocking on his heels, a small smile on his face.

“I’m not sure. Where did you get that bag from? The one you magicked up for Gun Larsen?”

I had to laugh out loud, because God, that was years ago.

“The Hermès one? She told you about that?”

“Yeah, she used it to peg down some trophy wife, apparently. Then gave it away to her cleaner or something.”