Free Wonder Women by Rosie Fiore

woke you.’
    â€˜Don’t be sorry. You can wake me for that any time. But seriously, it’s great to see you so fired up.’
    â€˜I think it could work, you know. I do. There are a million things I have to sort out, and a million obstacles. But if we can get past all those things … find the right premises, the right stock … I think it could be amazing.’
    â€˜I think so too.’
    â€˜Do you? Do you really?’ She turned on her side and looked at him. It was dark, but he could see her eyes shining. ‘Because it’s going to be a hell of a thing, Lee. Balancing the shop and the kids, setting everything up. I’m going to need a lot of help.’
    â€˜And I’m here to help you. I’ll do anything for you, my love. You know that.’
    â€˜You know, from anyone else, that would be a line. But I believe you. Now turn over.’
    Lee turned on his side and Jo spooned around his back, holding him close, and they fell asleep breathing in unison.
    The next morning, Jo wanted to leave early, so she walked down to the Tube station, leaving Lee and the kids loungingin pyjamas, eating Sunday-treat sugary cereal and watching a Disney film. It was a misty grey day, not raining yet, but looking like it might. Lee felt wonderfully decadent and lazy, sprawled on the sofa with Zach curled in the crook of his arm, and Imogene sat at his feet chewing on a giant jigsaw piece. They weren’t due at his parents’ till twelve, so he had plenty of time.
    It would be nice, he thought idly, if Jo came home tonight and there wasn’t a stack of laundry and an intimidating amount of housework for her to tackle. He wriggled out from under Zach, who grumbled for a second and then settled back into the sofa, his eyes glued to the screen. Lee bounded upstairs and grabbed the laundry baskets from their bedroom and the kids’ rooms. He stuck on a dark load, making sure to exclude Jo’s cashmere jumper. He noticed the kitchen looked a bit grim, so he loaded the dishwasher and, popping his head round the door periodically to check on the kids, set about cleaning all the surfaces and mopping the floor. The film had finished by then so he put both kids on the sofa, told them it was a ship and made a game of hoovering around them. Then he took them both upstairs to play and get dressed, and gave the bathroom a quick once-over too. Once he had both kids ready, he did a quick sweep, tidying the bedrooms, putting toys away downstairs, moving the washing into the dryer and putting on another load. Satisfied, he loaded both kids into their car seats and headed for his parents’ house.
    *
    Lee’s parents lived in Pinner, a few miles away. They were both retired. When Lee and his sister had moved out, theysold the family home and bought a comfortable bungalow. Lee’s dad had worked for BT as an engineer for his whole working life. He was methodical and quiet, a son of Jamaican immigrants. Lee’s mum was a brisk, slim blonde Yorkshire-woman who had come down to London in her early twenties to pursue a career in teaching. She joined a book club, where she met and fell in love with softly spoken Austin Hockley, and the rest, as she was fond of saying, was family history. She had risen through the ranks to become the head teacher of an all-girls’ school, and when she wanted something done, her voice still had the authoritative ring of a headmistress. It took a brave person to stand up to Betty Hockley. Imogene and Zach, naturally, had no such issues with her. She was a besotted grandmother, and she was much more indulgent with them than she had ever been with Lee and his sister.
    She met them at the door, kissed Lee and immediately scooped Imogene out of his arms. ‘Come through!’ she said happily. ‘Grandma has the table in the conservatory set up for painting.’ Sure enough, the big table was covered with a plastic tablecloth, and there was a great