Joanne was often the first partner to arrive at the office in the morning.

Although she was more than happy to give her daughter breakfast at home, Piper actually preferred to attend the breakfast club at school.

The principal had invited parents in when it first started up, showed them the vast buffet laid out in the light, airy eatery, with its glass walls, gentle water feature and plants, that looked out over the impressive school fields.

It cost a fortune to send Piper to the Nottingham Girls’ High School, but its achievement record was second to none and Joanne could rest assured her daughter was receiving the very best education and opportunities there.

It was a pleasure to drop Piper off at the school gates each morning and see her bounding over to the large group of friends who always waited for her by the entrance to the dining room.

She was a popular girl; Joanne must be doing something right in raising her, she thought to herself as she climbed out of the low sports car with a tiny wince.

She was naturally slim and had never had an enormous appetite, so the fact that she’d rather neglected her gym membership the past few weeks because of her workload hadn’t made that much of a difference to her appearance.

But she’d stopped her weekly yoga class too and that decision had certainly made a difference to her joints and flexibility. She added it to the ever-growing to-do list in her head.

Standing up straight at last, she turned, surprised to hear car tyres crunching on the gravel behind her.

Expecting the vehicle to belong to Roy or Dan, one of the other partners, her heart missed a beat when she recognised the small red Toyota as Emma Barton’s car.

Joanne closed her car door behind her and locked it, and began walking towards the office building.

Shaun had told her he’d had the conversation with Emma.

Piper was on a sleepover at a school friend’s house, and despite the fact that Joanne had heaps of work to get through, they’d sat on the balcony last night with the gas patio heater on and a candle lit, sharing a bottle of red wine.

She’d wrapped a light mohair blanket around her shoulders and curled up next to him on the outdoor sofa, relishing the comfort of the sumptuous deep cream cushions where she usually sat alone when Piper had gone to bed.

Shaun poured the wine, and after they’d clinked glasses, Joanne took a deep gulp, savouring the rich berry tang.

‘Tell me,’ she said softly.

‘Well, it wasn’t the best feeling in the world,’ Shaun admitted, ignoring his wine and staring at the flickering flame in front of him. ‘Even though we’re not together any more, I feel a bit of an arse for finding happiness so quickly.’

She liked how he showed her his vulnerable side so readily.

‘You deserve to be happy, Shaun. You shouldn’t feel bad about that.’

‘I know.’ He lifted his hand and touched her cheek gently with the backs of his fingers.

‘You told her you were moving in here?’ Joanne swallowed hard.

‘I did,’ he sighed. ‘And then she asked me to leave and so I can’t really gauge her reaction. She ranted and raved a bit, but that was no surprise.’

Joanne raised her eyebrows. ‘Why, is that her usual behaviour?’

‘Can be.’ Shaun shrugged, taking his first sip of wine. ‘She’s quite volatile at times.’

‘That surprises me. She always seems fairly calm and together at work. Although, like I told you, she has mentioned she’s had difficulties at home.’

‘Hmm. Well, me moving out will hopefully improve matters,’ he said.

‘Piper isn’t back until tomorrow evening.’ Joanne smiled. ‘We’ve still got some time to ourselves.’

‘Sounds great. Although I bet you miss her when she’s not around, with there only being the two of you.’

‘I do.’ She loved how he just understood her. She swirled her glass gently, watching as the deep ruby liquid sparked in the candlelight. ‘I’m so pleased you two have already been able to meet a couple of times. You’re going to miss Maisie. It’s going to be tough.’

He pursed his lips and stared out from the softly lit balcony into the velvety dark space beyond.

‘I’m expecting it to be very tough,’ he said. ‘Maisie and I are close, especially over the last two or three months, when I’ve been spending more time with her. I think she’s going to really miss me too, and I hope Emma doesn’t use her to get back at me in some way.’

Joanne widened her eyes. ‘Do you really think she’d do that?’

‘I don’t know. I hope not.’ Shaun sighed, turning from the darkness outside to look at her. ‘I’m probably being unfair to Emma. She’s always wanted Maisie and me to have a strong, healthy relationship, so there’s every chance she’ll be reasonable about my contact with her.’

‘I know we’ve seen each other’s kids at the dance school, but tell me about Maisie.’ Joanne shuffled closer, turned to fully face him. ‘What’s she like?’

Shaun grinned, the deep lines between his eyebrows softening.

‘Maisie? Well, that’s easy. She’s bright, beautiful, clever… full of laughter and life.’ He laughed. ‘I sound such a geeky dad, I know. But she is just wonderful, Jo. I can’t wait for you to meet her.’

‘Likewise, I want you to get to know Piper properly. Now you’re moving in, we have to sit down and explain things to her. But she really likes you.’

‘I understand it’s more of a rush than we wanted.’ Shaun nodded. ‘And easier for me with Maisie living with Emma, so why don’t we focus on your side of things for now?’

Joanne’s face lit up at his obvious enthusiasm to get to know her daughter.

‘I’ve been thinking how I’m going to tell her you’re moving in and that you’ll be sleeping in my room.’

‘Wow, you’re a fast mover,’ Shaun teased her.

‘This whole thing is crazy fast, don’t you think?’

‘Absolutely, but I feel so at ease with you, like we’ve been dating for months. It’s mad.’

‘We’re hardly love-struck teenagers,’ Joanne pointed out. ‘We’ve seen enough of life to know we have something special.’

She thought for a moment before continuing.

‘I know you said we can focus on my side of things, but I have an idea how to get our girls together…’

‘I’m all ears.’ He nudged her. ‘I like a woman who uses her initiative.’