It’s quiet. Nothing apart from the hum of the fridge and the faint purr of traffic in the distance. I’ve just finished printing out Joe’s birthday-party invitations. After much debating and mind-changing on his part, we finally decided on a football party at the park, followed by a pizza picnic. He can take the invitations to school on Monday and hand them out to his new friends.

I suppose, with Joe not here and Jared still at work, I should take this opportunity to make a start on writing next week’s column, but I can’t settle. I keep thinking about Joe staying over at Tyler’s. About whether he’ll get enough sleep, or become homesick. Maybe I should call to check…

Instead, I begin half-heartedly tidying up the kitchen, loading up the dishwasher, and wiping down the surfaces. That loses its appeal pretty quickly so I plonk myself down at the kitchen table, pick up my phone and start surfing the net. After checking my emails and social media, I tap in a search for ‘Darcy Lane’. Her blog pops up on the front page of my search results, and my eyes widen. Called The House down the Lane, it’s more than just a blog. The glossy-looking website has interviews and insightful articles on trends and innovations in design. Well written, it actually makes my little newspaper column look a bit pathetic, and I squirm in embarrassment at how pleased I was by her apparent awe.

I hear the familiar click of the key in the front door and my heart gives a little lift. Jared’s home early.

The door to the kitchen opens and he breezes in, loosening his tie and dumping his bag on the floor by the table. I rise to my feet and we kiss.

‘Hey, Lou,’ he says, running a finger down my cheek. ‘I missed you today.’

‘Missed you, too,’ I say, giving him a hug.

‘Where’s the little man?’ he asks.

‘Having a sleepover at his new friend’s house.’

‘Really? Who’s that, then? Do we know them?’ Jared frowns and heads for the kettle. ‘Tea?’

‘I’ll make it.’ I start making tea and fill Jared in on Joe’s playdate, and on Darcy’s incredible house.

‘One day soon,’ Jared says, ‘we’ll live on the beach in one of those houses.’

‘I’d rather have an older house with character,’ I say. ‘Like the one we’ve already got.’

‘You can have whatever house you want if my new idea works out.’

My heart sinks. Every time Jared has an idea, it usually involves buying something we can’t afford. ‘What do you mean?’ I ask, sitting next to him and accidentally slopping some of my tea onto the table. I turn to get a cloth but Jared takes my arm and guides me back down into my seat.

‘Leave it,’ he says. ‘I want to talk to you about something important.’

I hope the mention of Darcy’s swanky house isn’t the catalyst for this conversation.

‘I’ve been thinking about a new business opportunity,’ he says.

‘Since when?’ I ask, making patterns in the spilt tea with my finger.

‘For quite a while. You mentioning that place at Sandbanks makes me even more determined to do it. We should be living that lifestyle. We should have that great big house by the sea.’

Shit, I definitely should have kept my big mouth shut. I look up at my ambitious husband, his eyes glittering. ‘What’s this idea?’ I say, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my words.

‘Well…’ He suddenly looks boyish, just like Joe – his excitement spilling out. ‘You know how I work crazy long days…’ He takes a swig of tea.

‘Yeah.’

‘And you know I love my job, right.’

I nod.

‘Okay, so at the moment I’m the creative director. I do all the work – get everyone motivated, organise the big picture. But all that creativity, all that work, I’m doing it for someone else. I’m lining someone else’s pockets.’

I now know where this conversation’s heading. My stomach lurches as he continues.

‘How about…’ He takes my hand and squeezes it. ‘How about if I set up my own ad agency?’

I’m not sure how to answer. I don’t want to dismiss his idea, but I really do think it would be a mistake to set up a new business right now. I hear the irregular drip, drip, drip of the kitchen tap. We must get that fixed.

‘What do you think?’ he prompts.

I have to be careful how I word my answer. He wants my approval. He wants me to confirm that his idea is amazing, when all I can think about is the fact we have this huge mortgage and a child at private school – a school Jared insisted we send Joe to because he wasn’t doing so well at the state school, where he was in fact perfectly happy.

‘It sounds interesting,’ I say. ‘But wouldn’t it be a lot more work? We’d never see you.’

‘No, that’s where you’re wrong.’ Jared thumps the table and grins.’ Gary’s always off on some swanky holiday or another. He’s rolling in it. We’re all working our asses off so he can go on a hundred holidays a year. That could be us.’

‘His agency’s been going for years,’ I counter. ‘Surely, in the early days, he never had the time for holidays.’

‘Maybe. But we could sacrifice a few years of hard graft for a lifetime of holidays and dosh, couldn’t we?’

My heart rate speeds up. I know what Jared’s like when he gets a thought like this into his head. He won’t let it go. He’ll force it through with charm, or brute force – whichever works best. It was the same when we bought our house, and it was the same with Joe’s school. I remember our ten-year wedding anniversary where Jared arranged a surprise trip to the Caribbean for a two-week, five-star holiday while my sister looked after Joe. Poor Beth didn’t feel like she could say no to my husband, even though Megan was only nine-months-old at the time. Jared made it a surprise trip because he knew I would never have wanted to go. Yes, we had a good time, but the guilt and stress marred my enjoyment to the point where I couldn’t wait to get back home.

And now we’re struggling financially because of all the loans and expenses. I love my husband but his aspirations and extravagance leave me edgy and short of breath. ‘Why don’t we think about it?’ I say. ‘There’s no hurry, is there?’

He grins, leans over and kisses me, his blue eyes twinkling. ‘It’ll be amazing. You can help me come up with a name for the agency.’

‘Jared,’ I say. ‘We really need to think about it first. We’ve only been in our house a year. Joe’s just started a new school. We don’t have any spare cash. You’ll need money to set it up, a client list, staff…’

‘Staff’s no problem, I know loads of great creatives and account handlers. We can get a business loan to get us off the ground. And I can pitch for new clients. Simple.’

He makes everything sound so easy. I want to be swept up in his plans, I really do. But all I can see is the worry of a thousand decisions and the burden of borrowing more money.

‘Don’t worry, Lou. It’ll be good for us. For our little family.’ He downs the rest of his tea and gets to his feet, stretching his arms out in front of him. ‘Okay, I’m going for a run, then to the gym. I’ll be back about nine, okay?’

I nod. ‘What do you want to eat tonight?’

‘Anything. Something easy. Stir fry?’

I nod, my stomach suddenly knotted with anxiousness. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it will be okay, and he’ll make a success of it. I shouldn’t be such a killjoy. I should be more fun, more laid back. More like Darcy.