'That won't be possible,' Harry said loudly. 'Christelle is staying in with us tonight.'

'Cool. I'll call around. We could babysit and let you guys go out if you like.'

'Great,' Julie said.

'No, thank you. We'll be staying in.' Harry was adamant.

'Harry,' Christelle turned to her father, 'I'm not going to have sex with him. I just want to hear about the protest.'

Dad, Harry, Mum and Julie spluttered into their drinks while Gavin looked disappointed.

Julie and I roared laughing at that bit.

'You know the French, Lou they're so upfront about sex. None of us knew where to look. I thought Dad was going to have a heart attack.'

'I wish I'd been there.'

'Harry's turned out to be really strict. He won't let Christelle out of his sight.'

'Poor her. By the way, how's Sophie?'

'I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks. I spoke to her on the phone and she sounded OK. Jack still has no job, which is hard, but she seems to be doing really well she said she made lots of commission this month, which is great, and her stuff is still selling on eBay. She's made forty-two thousand on it.'

'Good for her.'

'She's looking at apartments to rent. Apparently one has come up in the building next to your block. She's thinking about taking it so she'd be nearby to help you settle back in and for Jess to spend time with Clara.'

'I'd love that.' It'd be great having Sophie so close by. 'Well, I'd better go.'

'OK, talk soon.'

I hung up. That had been the first conversation I'd had with Julie in which none of her kids was interrupting her or trying to kill themselves. Christelle must be a miracle-worker.

39.

Sophie.

Quentin was waiting for me when I got into the office, hopping from one foot to the other. 'Thank God you're here! We're in deep trouble.'

'What's happened?'

'Six of the girls have called in with food poisoning. They all went to that new Japanese restaurant in town, ate raw fish and spent the night bloody well throwing up. None of them can do the show in Harvey Nicks today. And you know what that PR bitch Veronica is like. I do not want to lose the account. Parkers PR pays very well.'

I put my hand on his arm. 'First, you need to calm down. We'll sort this out. Who was booked for the show?'

'Natasha, Alicia, Nadia, Rose, Georgia and Chloe. They're by far the best runway girls we have,' he wailed.

His mobile rang. 'Shit! It's her it's Veronica from Parkers! What'll I say?'

I grabbed his phone. 'Good morning, Beauty Spot model agency.'

'I want to speak to Quentin.'

'He's not available. My name is Sophie Devlin. I'm one of the bookers. Can I help?'

'I want to confirm that your girls will be here in fifteen minutes for fittings and a run-through of tonight's show,' she snapped.

Quentin was flapping his arms and hyperventilating. I decided to be direct. 'I'm very sorry, Veronica, but the six girls we booked for you are out with food poisoning.'

'What? Are you joking? Do you have any idea how big this show is? I will never '

'Veronica,' I cut across her, calmly but firmly, before she blew a fuse. 'Parkers PR and Harvey Nichols are our most valued clients. If you can give me one hour, I will personally deliver six models to you. I'll stay with them all day, make sure they know the running order backwards and help dress them for tonight's show. In addition to which we will, of course, be giving you a fifteen per cent discount for the forty-five-minute inconvenience caused this morning. Does that seem acceptable to you?'

'Well, I'm not sure I '

I jumped in: 'Because if it is, then I'd better go and pick up the girls right now so as not to waste a minute more of your valuable time.'

'You have one hour,' she said, and hung up.

Quentin hugged me. 'You were amazing, so strong and assertive and calm. My God, Sophie, where did it come from?'

'I don't know.' I laughed. 'Since Jack lost his job and I became the breadwinner, I feel like this protective tigress who has to save her family or something.'

'Well, I love the new arse-kicking you. You handled that witch so well.'

'Now I just need to go and get six models out of bed, dressed, into my car and over to Harvey Nichols in an hour. Come on, Quentin, you start calling them and I'll drive over to their houses.'

I scribbled down their addresses and grabbed my keys.

Jess was due to start in a new national school in ten days' time. She had been very brave about it. Jack and I had broken the news to her together and I had set up an appointment for her to meet her new teacher. Jack had taken Jess to the meeting, answered her questions and put her mind at ease. He'd even met a mum in the playground whose daughter was starting in the same class and had set up a play-date for Jess to get to know the little girl.

I was impressed with how he was handling being a full-time dad. He was so good with Jess now. They had fallen into a nice rhythm and each day they had their little routine. He had made her less scared of everything, and under his care she had grown in confidence. Instead of always saying, 'Get down, you'll hurt yourself,' like I did, Jack let Jess climb walls and go on the big slide in the park. He'd take her to the beach and run into the freezing sea with her, then sit on the damp sand making sandcastles with her for hours. Things I had never done.

I still occasionally felt a pang of jealousy when Jess told me about all the fun she and Daddy had had that day while I was at work. Jack was getting all this time with our daughter while I worked long hours to pay the bills. But, deep down, I knew this was a good thing for Jess and Jack. They needed to get close. They needed to spend time together. I just hoped he'd get a job soon so that the pressure on me to earn and budget, scrimp and save would be relieved a bit. I have to admit I missed having money. I missed being able to shop and eat out and even go to the cinema without having to save for a month. But I was enjoying work and I liked having my own money and independence. Even if Jack did get a job I wasn't going to give it up.

Jack and I were still not getting on very well. So far his networking hadn't generated a job and he had spent more than three hundred euros on it. Nowadays that was a huge amount of money to us. So, when he came to me and said he had to go to London for a job interview, I wasn't happy.

'Why can't you do it over the phone?'

'Because they want a face-to-face. It's important I think this could be the one. I've a good feeling about this company. They're a very well-established fund and I know one of the main guys there.'

'How much will it cost?'

'I can get flights for eighty euros return, but I'll need money for the tube and taxis and to buy them a drink if need be.'

'We can't afford taxis. I walk everywhere or get the bus. You'll have to do the same.'

'I will, but if my flight is delayed or the guys take me for a nice lunch, I'd like to be able to pay for the cab.'

I sighed. 'OK, but I need money for Jess's uniform and she needs new shoes too. Please try to keep your spending to a minimum.'

'I always do,' Jack muttered.

The night before he was due to fly to London for his interview, his brother phoned. He hadn't told his family anything and initially I'd agreed with that decision. They had never been nice to us and I didn't want them belittling him any more than they did already. I knew Jack was embarrassed and ashamed. They had always dismissed what he did, and now if they found out his company had blown up in a Ponzi scheme, they'd never stop going on about it.

Not telling them had been easy because they had never called into our house so they had no idea we had moved. They only phoned occasionally, so Jack had just told them everything was fine. We only ever saw them at Christmas, on Jess's birthday or when his father or Roger wanted us to buy a table at a fundraising ball for their hospital.

'Hi, Roger,' I heard Jack say. 'Oh, right is it this year? ... I see ... A party sounds like a good idea ... You want to go splits on the bill ... Uhm, OK. When do you need the cheque by? ... Oh, tomorrow. I could have done with a bit of notice ... Twelve hundred euros isn't a drop in the ocean to anyone, Roger ... I'm not saying I won't pay for our parents' anniversary party ... I just think a few days' notice would have been nice ... Of course they deserve it ...'

My head snapped up. I looked at Jack. He was pacing the room. He caught my eye. 'No way,' I mouthed. 'We're broke. You have to tell him.'

Jack shook his head and turned away. 'I won't have it for tomorrow ... Sorry, Roger, I just ... No, I'm not being difficult ... I know they've been great parents ... I want to give them a good party too ... It's not ... I can't ...'

I watched Jack struggle as Roger demanded money from him. How dare he call and put Jack under pressure? How dare he insist that the money be given the next day? How dare he only ever call when he wanted something? The years of seeing him belittle Jack boiled up inside me. I grabbed the phone.

'Hi, Roger, it's Sophie. Here's the thing. I need you to stop harassing Jack for money because we don't have any. We've lost everything house, cars, paintings, jewellery, clothes, the lot. Our house was repossessed and we don't have a penny to our names, so instead of giving your brother a hard time, why don't you try and be supportive for once in your life?'

'What? But I had no idea,' Roger blustered. 'Why on earth didn't he call? Was I supposed to guess? How could '

I cut straight across him: 'Of course you had no idea. You only ever call Jack when you're looking for something money for your hospital charity balls, money for a new machine for the obstetrics department, money to pay for your parents' parties or to tell him about some new promotion you've had. You never, ever call him to see how he is. To ask how he's doing. And all he ever does is support you, tell you how delighted he is when you do well, cheer on Grace when she wins her chess competitions and fork out money over and over again whenever you come asking. Well, Roger, it's time for you to be supportive. Do you think you can manage to get your head out of your arse for five minutes and be nice to your brother? My family have helped us out my family have given us everything they could. They've given us the roof over our heads and helped us slowly get back on our feet. Because that's what family does, Roger. They care for each other. They don't just use each other for donations or praise.'

'How was I to know? You should have called me. Of course I would have helped out. How did this happen? Where did all the money go? I always said he was excessive with his spending he should have put some away in solid investments instead of spending all his earnings like a madman.'

'Jack's fund invested in something that crashed. So did lots of the other top hedge funds in New York.'

'Dad and I told him it was a very unstable business. We urged him to get a steady profession, something proper, solid, not flighty hedge-fund management.'

'Well, he really doesn't need to hear that now, thank you, Roger. We all know that you doctors think you're demi-gods, but let me tell you what I've found out over the last few months. It doesn't matter what you do, how many lives you save or how much money you make, it's how you share it with others when they're down that matters, and Jack is the most generous person I know. When he had money he loved nothing more than to spend it on his family and my family. He never said no when you came looking for money for your hospitals and charity events. When you had five tables of ten people left last year and the ball was going to be a disaster, Jack paid for them all and filled them with our friends. He always made you look good by buying expensive auction items at those charity balls even though all you've ever done is sneer at his profession and consider your own to be far superior. I can tell you, Roger, that Jack is a much nicer human being than you'll ever be.'

'Calm down, Sophie. Now that we know Jack's lost all his money, of course we'll help. How much do you need? Would five thousand be enough?'

'Thanks for the offer, but I'm working and Jack's going to London for an interview tomorrow. He'll probably get the job because he has a very good reputation in the business.'

'Put my brother on,' Roger barked.

I handed the phone to Jack, who was beaming at me. 'Hi, Roger ... Didn't want to trouble you with it ... Bit of a mess ... All coming together now. Sophie wasn't being rude, she's just had a stressful few months. She's been amazing, I'm so proud of her ... She's working full-time and supporting us all ... No need to write a cheque ... Thanks for the offer ... Yes, I'm going to continue trading ... No, I don't think it's irresponsible ... I'm actually very good at what I do ... Just one bad decision ... Bad timing ... No, there's no need to call in, we're doing fine now, the worst is over ... No, I'll phone Dad and tell him myself ... OK, fine, I'll let you go and help Grace practise her chess for the competition ... 'Bye for now.' Jack hung up and exhaled loudly.

I knew I'd gone too far. 'Sorry, I just lost my temper. He's such an arrogant pig. How did you turn out so normal from a family like that?'

He grinned. 'There's no need to apologize. I liked being defended. Feel free to do it any time.'

'Well, there was no way I was going to let him bad-mouth you or your job or any of the choices you've made. He's such an intellectual snob it makes my blood boil.'

Jack sat down beside me on the couch. 'I should have told them.'

'Why? They're useless. All they would have done was make you feel bad.'

'They're still my family. I've been lying to them for months. God, now I have to tell my father and you know what he'll be like.'

I patted his arm. 'I'll call him for you. I have no problem telling him what's happened and giving him a piece of my mind while I'm at it. Family is so important, and your father has been so unsupportive of you your whole life just because you weren't as intellectual as Roger. It makes me sick. And your mother's a bloody doormat.'

'Well, you're certainly not.' He chuckled.

I giggled. 'Was I awful? Did I make a show of myself?'

He kissed my cheek. 'No, you were magnificent. I've never been prouder of you.' He looked at me intently, then leant over to give me a deeper kiss, and for the first time in months, I didn't push him away.

Two days later a breathless Jack called me from London he'd got the job with a big UK-based hedge fund. He was going to be working in London from Monday to Thursday and from home on Fridays. It wasn't ideal, but it was a job and it paid quite well. It was a low basic salary with high performance-related incentives, but it would be a huge relief to have two salaries coming in. We would be able to breathe and even go out for dinner to celebrate.

I called Louise the next day to tell her. '... so I wanted you to be the first to know because you've been so amazing to us. Honestly, Lou, I don't know what we would have done without your advice and your generosity in giving us your apartment. You're the best sister.' My voice quivered.

'Hey, come on, Sophie, you would have done the same for me. That's what sisters are for. Besides, you can pay me back by telling me where to go and what to do with Clara when I get home. I need information the best doctors, playgroups, parks, the best agencies to hire childminders from, the best schools, places to buy girls' clothes, kid-friendly restaurants, the works. I have no idea where to go in Dublin with a child, so I'll need your help.'

'I'll have a list typed up for you when you get home. I'm having Mini Maid come in to spring-clean the apartment when we move out on Saturday so it'll be pristine for you when you get back next week.'

'You didn't need to do that.'

'Now that Jack's got a job, I'm allowing myself to spend a little more.'

'What's your new place like?' she asked.

'It's nice, actually. Two bedrooms, a lovely big sunny living room and a small kitchen that fits a table and three chairs, which is all we need. I've just booked Jess into after-school care until four every day. And I asked Quentin this morning if it was OK for me to leave at four from Monday to Thursday if I work through lunch. He's fine with it and on Fridays, when Jack's working from home, I can work late.'

'It sounds like you have it all organized.'

'Well, I had to sort it out this morning. We move into the new apartment this weekend and Jess starts school on Monday.'

'Any update on Gavin trying to get Christelle into bed?' Louise asked.

'I slagged Harry about it and he got really pissed off. He's taking his fatherly duties very seriously.'

'Julie told me he flipped when he saw Gavin flirting with Christelle.'

'Apparently nothing happened, and now that she's back in Paris, they're on Facebook to each other all the time. Gavin keeps saying he's always wanted to go to Paris so he might pop over and visit her. Dad said the only place he was popping was down to Tesco to pack shelves if he didn't get a job soon. He's had a few interviews, but nothing's come of them yet.'

'Something will turn up all that hard-core protesting will stand to him. It actually reads well on his CV. I beefed it up a bit and worded it to make him look very committed and passionate. Well, I'd better go I'm in the middle of packing up twenty years of belongings. I'll see you next week, neighbour.'

'Are you excited about moving?'

'Excited and nervous.'

'Well, we're all thrilled you're coming back. It'll be great.'