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The breeze was cool, but the morning air was starting to warm up. Jenny slowed down as she got to the beach, took off her sandals and felt the cool stones under her toes. She was beginning to understand Naomi’s fascination with the sea.

In the midst of the revelations of the night before, she was relieved to have finally told the girls about the blog. They hadn’t seemed too bothered about it in the end; other events had rather overshadowed it. Ironically, it probably wouldn’t matter much now anyway. As far as Eva was concerned, she would be stepping back into her ‘Girl About Town’ role next week, and that would be the end of The Undercover Mother.

Right then, all Jenny wanted was to be at home on her sofa, with Henry on one arm and Dan on the other. Despite the hangover beginning to manifest itself at the back of her head, she would have even swapped her lie-in this morning for an early morning cuddle. If she went back to ‘Girl About Town’, every weekend would be like this: juggling late nights being a party girl with early mornings being a mother, and trying to write in the middle of it. But Eva had made it clear that this was what she wanted her to do. If she didn’t, she knew that she would have to kiss goodbye to her own column at the magazine.

Putting her hand up to her eyes, she scanned the beach. There were a couple of people out walking their dogs and a young man asleep, but other than that the beach was empty. What a disappointment. She had been sure she would find Ruth here; hadn’t she told them that her teenage self had always gone to the beach to think? Maybe Gail was right, and she had gone home already. Feeling terrible again that she had persuaded Ruth to come at all, Jenny turned to go.

It was then that she saw her, sitting in the exact spot they’d found Naomi yesterday.

‘Can I join you?’

Ruth hadn’t heard Jenny coming and she started at the sound of her voice. Smiling automatically, she motioned for Jenny to sit beside her. ‘Please, take a seat.’ She seemed quite comfortable, picking up pebbles and throwing them into the sea. If she was irritated about being found, she wasn’t showing it.

Still, Jenny wanted to make sure she wasn’t intruding. ‘You can tell me to go away if you want. We were just worried about you.’

Ruth shook her head. ‘No, stay, please. I’m sorry for leaving and waiting so long to tell you I’d found a hotel. It was thoughtless. I just needed to get away, not think about anyone else for a few hours.’ She looked levelly at Jenny. ‘Is Naomi okay? I feel guilty about throwing my drink over her. What a stupid overreaction.’

‘She’s fine. And she completely understands why you were so upset.’ Jenny was relieved. This was the Ruth she recognised. Kind, thoughtful, not given to unpredictable reactions.

Ruth frowned. ‘Didn’t need to throw my toys out of the pram like that, though, did I? I’m not normally so dramatic.’

Jenny shrugged. ‘If I were you, there would have been several toy-throwing incidents by now. To be honest, Naomi has brought out the tantruming toddler in me on many occasions. I’ve grown to love her, but it’s taken some work. Do you mind if I text the others to say that I’ve found you? Everyone is out looking.’

Ruth nodded. ‘Yes, of course. Please do. I don’t want to worry anyone. I need to go back and face the music at some point, anyway.’ She put her hands up to her face. ‘I’m so embarrassed.’

Jenny started to tap away at her mobile. ‘You don’t need to be. Naomi will just be happy you don’t hate her. She feels terrible for blurting out the pregnancy like that. She’s a bit mixed up.’ She stopped typing and looked at Ruth. ‘Speaking of feeling guilty, I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing persuading you to come away. I didn’t want to make you feel bad.’

Ruth put her hand over Jenny’s. ‘Don’t be silly. And don’t apologise. I’m glad I was invited. It’s been good for me.’

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the sea. After a while, Ruth turned to Jenny. ‘It’s not like me, you know, losing my temper like that. And I have certainly never thrown a drink over someone before.’

Jenny shook her head. ‘Really, don’t worry about it. Everyone understands.’

Ruth carried on as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘And the feeling sick. That’s not like me, either. I really wanted to have a good drink this weekend, but I haven’t managed more than a sip of anything.’

‘Well, you’ve got a lot going on and—’

‘—and last night, lying in that hotel room on my own, my mind began to turn over. Feeling sick. Temperamental outbursts…’

Jenny stopped talking and stared at her. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but Ruth was looking at her intently and it was hard not to. ‘What are you saying?’

A smile started to spread across Ruth’s face. ‘I’m saying that I did a pregnancy test this morning. I’ve been trying to keep it in because I wanted to tell David first, but I must tell someone before I burst. I’m pregnant!’

Jenny almost dropped her mobile in her rush to throw her arms around her. ‘That’s wonderful, Ruth! So very wonderful! I can’t believe it.’

Ruth grinned. ‘Me, neither. I’m still scared, but I’m so excited, too. I know I haven’t got a good track record, but I feel exhausted, sick and hormonal. That’s got to be a good sign, right? I’m trying to keep the terror locked away for now and enjoy this moment. I can’t wait to get home and tell David.’ Her words spilled out in a rush of enthusiasm.

‘Oh, Ruth, I can’t imagine how you must feel! The doctors will watch you and this baby like hawks this time. Nothing will happen. Everything will be perfect. Oh, I am so, so pleased. This has made the whole weekend!’ She hugged Ruth again. They were laughing happily when Jenny’s mobile beeped and she looked at the screen. ‘Ah, they got my message. They want to know where we are.’

‘I suppose we should put them out of their misery. Maybe I’ll pretend I went home with a strange man. Shall I take my knickers off and leave them hanging out of my handbag?’

Jenny groaned. ‘Please don’t. I don’t think I could cope with any more revelations this weekend. Come on, let’s go.’ She stood up and held out her hands to Ruth to pull her up.

When their eyes were level, Ruth kept hold of Jenny’s hands. ‘Please don’t mention my pregnancy to the others yet. I’d rather as few people know as possible until I’ve had the first scan.’

‘Of course not.’ Jenny paused. ‘Whilst we’re on the subject of secrets, though, I have a little confession of my own.’

It was easier telling Ruth than the others. For a start, she hadn’t been writing about Ruth’s parenting idiosyncrasies for the last few months. Plus, Ruth was barely listening to a word Jenny said: she had far more important things on her mind. Which was fine by Jenny. Anyone would be happy for Ruth.

But Jenny’s happiness was bigger than that: Ruth was her friend.

When she’d first met these four women, they had been so far removed from her existing friends that Jenny could never have imagined that she would feel as she did now. But somewhere along the way, through a sea of nappy changes, sleep regimes and undigested milk vomit, they had somehow, unbelievably, become her friends. This was both wonderful and terrible: wonderful, because she had new buddies; and terrible, because she couldn’t continue to write about them.

The Undercover Mother had been a stop-gap. A smokescreen. A means to an end. All she had wanted was to show Eva that she still had it, that she could be a mother and a writer. Once that had been established, Eva would have had no reason not to give her back ‘Girl About Town’.

The problem was, she didn’t want it back. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to write; there were plenty of ideas fluttering about her brain. But they were all ideas for The Undercover Mother. Writing about the restaurant, the bar, the social scene for ‘Girl About Town’ didn’t interest her at all.

But no one wanted her to write The Undercover Mother. Not Eva, not Mark, and not the four women she now realised were her friends.