Meredith took a deep breath and named a very generous hourly rate. After all, what price could you put on helping out a friend?

‘When do you want me to come in?’ was the instant reply.

Meredith decided she might need some time to prepare the others for the onslaught of this tornado. ‘How about tomorrow afternoon?’

‘See you then,’ replied Suzi, in such a honeyed tone that it was clear she believed she’d won.

Meredith just hoped this crazy scheme of Jackie’s would finally pay off. And how they were going to explain it to Steph, she hadn’t yet worked out.

Philippe whistled as he opened the latest email from the mayor. It was strange to be Bratenac’s blue-eyed boy. Everyone kept saying hello to him in the street, and bookings had gone up in the restaurant. He liked the second thing but wasn’t at all sure about the first.

‘Morning, superstar,’ Jean-Christophe greeted him. ‘I don’t need to know how it went last night. I can see it written all over you.’

Philippe grinned. ‘That’s just the sprinkle of stardust you get from appearing with Françoise Gilbert.’

‘Hmm,’ challenged his son, ‘not sure that’s all there is to it. So how did you get on in Loubressac, eating foie gras and watching the moon?’

‘Merci, mon fils, it was a wonderful evening. Once you break through the frost with Mademoiselle Harding, there is much warmth beneath.’

‘I can see that it’s still having an effect.’ He looked serious for a moment. ‘I’m glad for you, Papa,’ he said. ‘You’ve been alone for a long time.’

‘I probably deserved it. Men can behave like complete shits without even beginning to accept it.’

‘I wouldn’t know about that, but I can tell you one thing. You aren’t any more.’

‘Thank you, petit, that means a lot to me coming from you. Now I suppose I’d better get back to organizing this food festival, or it’ll turn out to be Bratenac’s very own complete disaster.’

‘David Adams, I’m David Adams . . .’

It sounded crazy even to him, but David was having to repeat his own name because he felt his entire world had turned on its head; and of course, it was his own bloody fault. He was the one who’d sat drinking in the Café de la Paix with Suzi, knowing full well it wasn’t entirely innocent, lapping up all her flattery as if every word were true – when all the time he knew he was a perfectly ordinary guy with an almost-happy life. Almost, but not quite. Steph had played her part too. She had belittled him, sometimes publicly, and whatever he did to make her life easier, it had never seemed enough.