‘Do the kids need to grab some food?’ Mr Nicholls said, as they finally drove into the suburbs of some large town. Jess had already stopped noting which. Huge, shining office blocks punctuated each half-mile, their frontages bearing management- or technology-based names she’d never heard of: ACCSYS, TECHNOLOGICA and MEDIAPLUS. The roads were lined with endless stretches of car parks. Nobody walked.

‘We could find a McDonald’s. There’s bound to be loads of them around here.’

‘We don’t eat McDonald’s,’ she said.

‘You don’t eat McDonald’s.’

‘No. I can say it again, if you like. We don’t eat McDonald’s.’

‘Vegetarian?’

‘No. Actually, could we just find a supermarket? I’ll make sandwiches.’

‘McDonald’s would probably be cheaper, if it’s about money.’

‘It’s not about the money.’

Jess couldn’t tell him: if you were a single parent, there were certain things you could not do. Which were basically the things that everyone expected you to do: claim benefits, smoke, live on an estate, feed your kids McDonald’s. Some things she couldn’t help, but others she could.

He let out a little sigh, his gaze fixed ahead. ‘Okay, well, we could find somewhere to stay and then see whether they have a restaurant attached.’

‘I had kind of planned we’d just sleep in the car.’

Mr Nicholls pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face her. ‘Sleep in the car?’

Embarrassment made her spiky. ‘We have Norman. No hotel’s going to take him. We’ll be fine in here.’

He pulled out his phone and began tapping into a screen. ‘I’ll find a dog-friendly place. There’s bound to be somewhere, even if we have to drive a bit further.’

Jess could feel the colour bleeding into her cheeks. ‘Actually, I’d rather you didn’t.’

He kept tapping on the screen.

‘Really. We – we don’t have the money for hotel rooms.’

Mr Nicholls’s finger stilled on the phone. ‘That’s crazy. You can’t sleep in my car.’

‘It’s only a couple of nights. We’ll be fine. We would have slept in the Rolls. It’s why I brought the duvets.’

Tanzie watched from the rear seat.

‘I have a daily budget. And I’d like to stick to it. If you don’t mind.’ Twelve pounds a day for food. Maximum.

He looked at her like she was mad.

‘I’m not stopping you getting a hotel,’ she added. She didn’t want to tell him she’d actually prefer it if he did.

‘This is nuts,’ he said finally.

It was only when he turned back to the wheel that it occurred to her he might not want to leave them alone in his car.

They drove the next few miles in silence. Mr Nicholls had the air of a man who was quietly pissed off. In a weird way, Jess preferred it. Two, three days max, she told herself. In fact, she’d just let him drop them at the maths competition and tell him they would make their own way back. She wasn’t sure she could take more than another forty-eight hours of being stuck in a car with him. And if Tanzie did as well as everyone seemed to think she would, they could blow a little of her winnings on train tickets.

The thought of ditching Mr Nicholls made her feel so much better that she didn’t say anything when he pulled into the Travel Inn.

‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ he said, and walked off across the car park. He took the keys with him, jangling them impatiently in his hand.

‘Are we staying here?’ Tanzie said, rubbing at her eyes and looking around.

‘Mr Nicholls is. We’re going to stay in the car. It will be an adventure!’ Jess said.

There was a brief silence.

‘Yay,’ said Nicky.

Jess knew he was uncomfortable. But what else could she do? ‘You can stretch out in the back. Tanze and I will sleep in the front. It will be fine.’

Mr Nicholls walked back out, shielding his eyes against the early-evening sun. She realized he was wearing the exact same outfit she had seen him wear in the pub that night.

‘They had one room left. A twin. You guys can take it. I’ll see if there’s somewhere else nearby.’

‘Oh, no,’ she said. ‘I told you. I can’t accept any more from you.’

‘I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for your kids.’

‘No,’ she said, trying to sound a little more diplomatic. ‘It’s very kind of you, but we’ll be fine out here.’

He ran a hand through his hair. ‘You know what? I can’t sleep in a hotel room knowing that there’s a boy who just got out of hospital sleeping in the back seat of a car twenty feet away. Nicky can have the other bed.’

‘No,’ she said, reflexively.

‘Why?’

She couldn’t say.

His expression darkened. ‘I’m not a pervert.’

‘I didn’t say you were.’

‘So why won’t you let your son share a room with me? He’s as tall as I am, for Christ’s sake.’

Jess flushed. ‘He’s had a tough time lately. I just need to keep an eye on him.’

‘What’s a pervert?’ said Tanzie.

‘I could charge up my Nintendo,’ said Nicky, from the back seat.

‘You know what? This is a ridiculous discussion. I’m hungry. I need to get something to eat.’ Mr Nicholls poked his head in through the door. ‘Nicky. Do you want to sleep in the car or in the hotel room?’