The pizzas were also brought from the oven and polished off, with even Troy having two slices and declaring how much he’d enjoyed them. There wasn’t much left on the table so Chloe asked:

‘Anyone for seconds?’

Zennor shook her head. ‘I’m so full.’

‘It was all delicious,’ Gabe chipped in.

‘So, no one has room for pudding?’ asked Sam. ‘As well as the tarts, I made a vegan choc cherry fudge cake for anyone who doesn’t do dairy.’

Ben’s eyes lit up. ‘Choc cherry fudge? I’ll take it home if no one else wants it!’

Zennor stared at him and even Chloe did a quiet double take. It was possibly the most emphatic statement she’d ever heard from him.

Gabe rubbed his hands together. ‘No chance of that, mate.’

Evie patted her stomach and groaned. ‘Can we have a bit of a break first?’

‘Good idea,’ said Chloe. ‘I need to make room.’

‘Of course,’ said Sam. ‘And anyway, I wanted to say a few words. Now seems the perfect time.’

Six pairs of eyes lasered in on Chloe. Everyone had a butter-wouldn’t-melt expression on their faces, which meant they were all up to something. She braced herself for a cake – a cake with forty on it – oh God, they might have clubbed together to get one and spent their hard-earned cash on a lie. She was going to have to come clean.

Ben had sidled off while Sam had been talking, but he now emerged back into the room with a large rectangular parcel covered in giftwrap and a frothy bow. It wasn’t cake-shaped but even so, Chloe wanted to sink through the floor with guilt. She gulped down the remaining fizz in her glass.

‘I know you said no presents, but we couldn’t let the occasion go by without getting you something to mark it.’

‘What have you done? You shouldn’t have.’

‘Ah but we have!’ Everyone laughed and Sam grinned. ‘Wait until you open it.’

‘Oh, I hope she loves it,’ Evie murmured and Chloe died a tiny bit more.

‘I’m sure I will.’ She rested her hands on the paper. It had been so carefully and lovingly wrapped …

‘Don’t keep us in suspenders, maid,’ Troy grumbled.

Unable to delay any longer, Chloe pulled off the paper with trembling fingers. Underneath, she found a bubble-wrapped package.

‘Oh! Thank goodness. It’s a picture!’ Her relief that it was clearly not something with ‘Chloe is 40’ splashed all over it was intoxicating. She sounded like Hannah used to on Christmas morning.

Troy let out a cackle. ‘Did you think it was a voucher for Botox in a great big box?’

Evie batted him on the arm. ‘Shut up, Troy! You don’t need it, Chloe my love. You’re only a spring chicken.’