‘Like I said, he was a dreamer,’ Jensen scoffed. ‘He’d have a vision in his head about how his creation should look but the reality rarely lived up to his expectations. More often than not, the project would take longer than planned, the client would begin to lose patience and faith and Dad would fly into a rage, declare he couldn’t be expected to create under such oppressive conditions and abandon the project. We’d have to slink off under a cloud and wait for some other unsuspecting client with more money than sense to knock at our door. Dad never acknowledged it, but it was only because Mum did some part-time book-keeping that we were ever able to make ends meet. So no, in my eyes he wasn’t successful,’ he said wryly.

‘Sidney said they split when you were a teenager?’

‘They’d never actually married, which used to bother Mum, but made it easier for her to leave in the end. I think she finally got fed up of playing second fiddle. Dad wasn’t deliberately unkind, but I’ve never met anyone so disinterested in the people who loved him. The last I heard he met a Native-American woman called River and moved to her reservation in Wyoming. That was about ten years ago.’

‘Don’t you keep in touch?’ I asked, thinking of my own loving father and realizing how lucky I was to have such a caring man in my life.

‘There’s little point, I didn’t get to know him,’ he replied with a shrug. ‘Not properly, I’m not even sure Mum did.’

‘Sidney said she lives abroad now; you must miss her?’

‘I do.’ His face softened. ‘She found happiness second time around with a golf professional called Victor. He’s a good guy; I’m pleased for her. Victor was headhunted by a brand-new golf club in Shanghai and they live the life of Riley now. I don’t get to see her much, but I know she’s happier than she’s ever been.’

At that moment, several starlings dared to swoop down on the vines just behind us. Starsky shot out from under the bench, barked furiously at them until they disappeared and then trotted back to flop down looking very pleased with himself. We both laughed at his smug expression.

‘So,’ I pursed my lips playfully, ‘we’ve established that you have goals not dreams, so what is your goal?’

He laughed. ‘Sorry, that was a long-winded answer. Am I boring you?’

‘Not at all.’ I shielded my eyes from the sun to study him. ‘Your upbringing is a lot more exciting than mine, not that I’m complaining.’

He pressed a fingertip to my arm. ‘I think we should get out of the sun; you’re going a bit pink. I don’t want you collapsing on me again.’

I gave him a stern look. ‘You’re not trying to get out of telling me your ambitions, are you?’

‘No, no,’ he said softly, ‘I’m just trying to look after you.’