‘Oh, Grace, please don’t be so hard on yourself,’ he jumped in. ‘There’s no measure or rule book for grief, and that’s what it is when you lose someone, whether it’s a relationship break-up or a death … it’s just a different type of grief. And it comes and goes. You can be over it one day and then weeks, sometimes months later, or even years later, it can reappear to wallop you right in the face when you least expect it.’

‘Thank you,’ she smiled, letting her head dip down to one side. ‘You’re so kind. And not at all like any man I’ve known before … except for Jamie, of course, he’s kind too,’ and she grinned. ‘But he’s gay.’ And she pulled a face and shrugged.

‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think the man who cheated on you lost out, big time.’ Then, gently unfolding her arms, he took her hands in his. ‘And just so you know, Jennifer is my flatmate. And best friend. She’s not my girlfriend … I did have one of those, but she cheated on me too.’ He gave her a wry smile.

Silence followed as his words sunk in.

‘Oh.’ She willed her cheeks not to go bright red like a pair of plum tomatoes – and that’s what she felt like right now … a prize plum. How could she have got it so wrong and jumped to conclusions? She had put two and two together and come up with a trillion pieces that didn’t fit together after all. ‘And I’m sorry you’ve been through the cheating thing too.’

‘Don’t be. I’m over it … well, for today at least.’ And they both laughed. ‘So, tell me why you thought I was getting engaged?’

‘When I answered your phone that time … Jennifer thought I was you and mentioned it, about the picking a venue—’

‘Ah, yes, well she was getting engaged, and she wanted my help to pick a venue … That is until her girlfriend got cold feet and called the whole thing off. As you can imagine, she’s devastated. And I’ve been trying to support her from over here.’

‘Ellis, I’m so sorry … that’s awful,’ Grace said. ‘And I don’t need to imagine … I was engaged too, once upon a time … until I found him in bed with another woman.’

‘You actually walked in on him?’ Ellis said, shaking his head and covering his face with hands.

‘Yes.’

‘I did wonder if you’d had your heart broken. I thought it might explain why you were being so cool with me during our time here.’

‘Cool?’ Grace echoed, wondering how he could think that. Yes, she had been cautious, but then he had a girlfriend, or so she had thought.