Friend of the Family

Amy hadn’t wanted to say that being on holiday with your own children wasn’t exactly babysitting, but she had to admit, the thought of spending a lazy three weeks somewhere beautiful, with great rosé, a stunning pool and the company of good friends, did sound better with the prospect of childcare.

‘Claire said he’s been worried about a paunch and is out running at six every morning, but I’d still leave it half an hour,’ she said, making herself a Nespresso.

‘Maybe there’s a local hotel with a kids’ club that can ship someone out to the villa for a few hours every day.’

‘We don’t want strangers looking after the kids, David.’

‘You’re right,’ said David, rubbing his cheeks. In the cool light of the early morning, Amy noticed how weary he was looking. Two big back-to-back M&A deals had meant ninety-hour working weeks, and the stress was beginning to catch up with him. He’d never been much of a drinker, but lately she’d noticed that he’d gone from the odd drink in the evening to two or three glasses of whisky as he sat in his study watching Bloomberg, keeping track of the markets.

‘It would have been nice, though. Someone to just whisk the kids off for a while.’

Amy nodded in quiet agreement. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to swim in the pool with Tilly, or play hide-and-seek among the cypress trees, but Claudia being at the villa would have given them both a break. In Amy’s case, it wasn’t even to spend a couple of hours chilling on the terrace. She had the Mode application to do, and if she was going to do it justice; if she was going to give herself a real shot at the job, she was going to have to spend much of her free time working.

She heard footsteps in the hall and a figure appeared at the kitchen door. Josie was wearing white cotton pyjama shorts and a little vest, her long hair falling over one shoulder. Amy wondered how it was possible to look so pretty when you had just got out of bed.

‘How’s Claudia?’ she asked.

‘Broken wrist and ankle, and very shaken up.’

‘Poor thing,’ she said with a grimace. ‘Did they catch who did it?’

Amy shook her head. ‘No. It was a moped attack. They just disappeared into the night. But the police are involved, so with a bit of luck they’ll track the little bastard down with CCTV or something.’

‘Thanks for looking after Tilly,’ said David. Amy noticed that he didn’t look at her.

Josie smiled and twisted her hair. ‘No worries. She didn’t even wake up.’

She turned as a small sleepy-eyed face appeared behind her.

‘I want some breakfast,’ said Tilly, her voice muffled by the soft toy rabbit she held close to her mouth.

Josie scooped her up so she sat on her hip. ‘I was just telling Mummy and Daddy you were asleep. It’s still the middle of the night,’ she said, giving her a squeeze.

‘But everyone is up. And it’s light.’

‘Come on, sweetheart, I’ll take you back to bed,’ said Amy, standing up.

‘No. We’re going on holiday. I want some juice and then I have to put Mr Rabbit in my bag.’

‘Is Mr Rabbit going on holiday too?’ smiled Josie, pushing the toy’s head up and down in a nod.

‘Of course he’s coming,’ said Tilly in surprise.

‘In which case,’ whispered Josie, ‘maybe we should go back to your room and pack his case too.’

David waited until the footsteps had disappeared upstairs.

‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ he said.

‘What?’

‘Josie, of course. Why don’t we take her instead?’

Amy hesitated. ‘I don’t know . . .’

‘Why not?’

‘David, we’ve had her here for two weeks already. I was looking forward to it being just the three of us again.’