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Jenny had never been so glad to see a slice of lemon drizzle.

After escaping from the church hall, she and Antonia had relocated to a nearby coffee shop. Henry and Jessica were asleep in their prams and there were no other children nearby to interrupt the quiet hum of conversation and the occasional clink of a cake fork. Jenny began to breathe again.

Antonia slid a tray bearing vintage crockery onto their table. ‘Here you are, darling. That should make you feel better. If I’d known you were planning on visiting that place, I would have warned you. It’s a hothouse for competitive parenting. You should have heard the discussion they had the other week about nurseries. Montessori this and organic menus that.’ Antonia shuddered. ‘It can be exhausting just listening to them.’

It had been worse than exhausting. Fiona had left Jenny feeling rather depressed. She recounted their conversation to Antonia.

‘Then she said part-time work is even worse. She feels a failure at both.’

Antonia grimaced. ‘Sounds to me like she’s trying to be Superwoman. She’s like Gail and Naomi rolled together. How tedious for you.’

Oddly, Jenny felt defensive. ‘I don’t think it’s that. I think she just likes her job. I mean, if you enjoy what you do, it must be pretty hard to just stop, mustn’t it?’ If her dinner with Mark had taught her anything, it had made her realise how much she missed her own job. A draughty church hall and a weak cup of tea were no replacement for white tablecloths and a cold glass of white wine.

Antonia was nonplussed. ‘So, why doesn’t she just get a childminder and go back to work full-time?’

Maybe Antonia, who hadn’t worked even before she had Jessica, was the wrong audience for this conversation. Still, Jenny tried.

‘Because maybe her job takes up a lot of time. And maybe she feels guilty about leaving her baby.’ And maybe she has the kind of job which involves a lot of socialising and she would never get to see her child, or her husband, because her job had the tendency to take over her life. Jenny pushed down the lump in her throat with another forkful of cake.

Antonia looked bored. ‘She should just make up her mind as to what she wants then, rather than moaning about it to complete strangers.’

‘She wasn’t moaning exactly. She was just… talking. Trying to figure out how you can… you know… do both. Be with your baby, go to work, see your friends, kiss your husband occasionally.’

Antonia snorted derisively. ‘That sounds exhausting. There aren’t enough hours in the day for all that, darling. Sounds to me as if your new friend has a serious case of FOMO.’

Jenny gave up trying to explain to Antonia that it was more than just a Fear Of Missing Out. ‘Maybe.’

Antonia stirred her coffee and then scooped the foam from the top with almost medical precision. ‘I don't suppose there were any men there today, were there?’

On the surface, the question seemed idle, but there was something about the way Antonia carefully avoided Jenny’s eye as she asked it that piqued Jenny’s interest. ‘No, I don’t think there were any at all. Why, do any dads go normally?’

Antonia put her spoon down and picked up her cup. Her expression had closed down again. She clearly wasn’t going to share why she had asked about the men. ‘From time to time, but not often. Put off by all that undiluted oestrogen, I should think.’

Jenny could well believe it. Dan would rather have his eyes gouged out with a baby spoon than set foot in a place like that. Mind you, she’d been quite surprised to find Antonia there, too. The Cath Kidston tablecloths and bone china plates of this coffee shop seemed a much more appropriate habitat for her.

‘I must admit, I never pictured you as the baby group type, either.’

Antonia tucked a rare stray hair behind her ear. ‘Oh, I’m not. I've only been a few times and I only stay if there’s someone worth talking to.’

Jenny marvelled at how perfect Antonia looked. Even though she was wearing a long-sleeved top on a really warm day, she looked cool and classy. Meticulous make-up, crisp clothes and perfectly painted fingernails gave off an aura of elegance and style. Self-consciously, Jenny put a hand over the milk stain down the front of her own top and shuffled her legs further under the table to camouflage her crumpled trousers.

‘Well, it was a nice surprise to see you. It feels like ages since we were at your house.’

‘Yes, it has been a while since I’ve seen any of you. I did speak to Naomi last week. Jess had a really bunged-up nose and I thought she might know something herbal I could use. She told me about her drunken episode and her conversation with you. About the fact that she’s thinking of leaving. Do you think she and John are really in trouble?’

Antonia was picking absently at the cake in front of her as she spoke. Jenny had already hoovered up half of her lemon drizzle and it was taking all her willpower to not eat any more until Antonia had caught up a little. At the rate at which Antonia was picking at her coffee cake, crumb by crumb, this was never going to happen. Quite possibly, this was why Antonia had fared so much better at clothes shopping than Jenny had.

‘I haven’t seen her since, but I don’t think she’s actually going to leave him, do you? Surely it’s all just a case of too much, too soon. They were only together for a short while before Daisy came. It’ll settle down.’ Jenny wasn’t sure if she believed this or just hoped it was true.

‘Maybe, maybe not.’ Antonia shrugged. ‘Responsibility can do funny things to a man. Sometimes good. Sometimes not so good.’

‘John seems pretty steady. And they were clearly very in love with each other when they were at the classes. I’m surprised he didn’t set the small of her back on fire, he was rubbing it so frequently.’

Antonia laughed. ‘Gosh, yes. And do you remember the way she looked at him every time he asked a question?’ She mimicked Naomi’s puppy dog expression and then stuck her fingers down her throat.

Jenny felt a twinge of guilt. ‘There you go. They must love each other. I’m sure they’ll be fine.’

Antonia raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, I hope you’re right. But we’re both old enough to know that appearances aren’t everything.’

Jenny gave up on her own appearance of self-restraint and had another mouthful of cake. ‘By the way, the man you saw Gail with at Geoff’s work do wasn’t Joe. It was her boss. You were right.’

Antonia nodded. ‘I told you so. He didn’t look like her boyfriend at all.’

Something occurred to Jenny, and she said it aloud before she’d even thought it through. ‘Unless her boss is Joe?’ How had she not thought of this before?

Antonia wasn’t buying it. ‘Goodness, I doubt it very much. I told you, he was about thirty years older than her.’

Jenny wasn’t ready to give up on her theory yet. ‘Des O’Connor and David Jason… they both had babies in their seventies. It would make a lot of sense as to why she won’t tell us anything about him or show us a picture. Maybe he’s married! Can’t you get Geoff to do a bit of digging around?’

Antonia sat up straighter and her mood seemed to change. ‘Sorry. Not his style.’ She picked up a sachet of sweetener and tapped it on the table. ‘Anyway, I can’t stay too much longer, I’m afraid. I’ve only brought Jessica out for a short while, as my mother is coming to visit today.’

She seemed agitated. Jenny felt colour rise in her cheeks. Did Antonia think she was being too nosy about Gail? But she’d been the one gossiping about Naomi and John… so why was she upset?

‘Is everything okay?’

Antonia lifted her cup to her lips and blew on the coffee to cool it. If Jenny hadn’t known what a confident person Antonia was, she would have sworn she was composing herself.

‘I’m fine, absolutely fine. It’s my mother’s visit this afternoon. Always puts me on edge.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Actually, darling, I know this is terribly rude but I must shoot off and get the house straight before she comes. I just need to go to the Ladies’. Would you mind watching Jess for me so that I don’t have to take the pram in there?’

Jenny watched Antonia walk quickly towards the toilet, carrying her expensive handbag under her arm. Her ‘FOMO’ comments had struck a chord. Maybe Jenny also needed to accept that she couldn’t have everything. Going over to Mark to write a rival column to ‘Girl About Town’ would give her back a social life, but it would be at the cost of time with Henry. Staying at home with Henry would mean she didn’t miss anything he did, but she couldn’t imagine her life without writing. How was she supposed to choose?

Antonia had left her mobile on the table and it buzzed now with an incoming text message. The vibration moved it across the table and Jenny put out her hand to stop it from falling off the edge. That’s why she couldn’t help but see the message which flashed up on the screen from ‘Mum’.

Jenny replaced the phone on the table. When Antonia came back, she picked it up, glanced at the message and then dropped it into her bag.

‘We should arrange to meet up soon, darling. Shall I text you some dates?’

Jenny felt more than slightly snubbed. Either Antonia didn’t want to be with her, or she had something, or someone, more interesting to see. Either way, Jenny wasn’t going to suggest they met up alone again.

‘Actually, Naomi mentioned something called soft play.’ She glanced at Antonia. ‘I’ll ask her to call them and book us a place or whatever you have to do.’ Jenny hadn’t fancied the sound of the soft play place, but it couldn’t be as bad as the baby group had been. And even if she was only motivated by guilt, she needed to find something she could go to with Henry. She’d call Naomi as soon as Antonia left.