‘Good.’ He scooped me up into his arms, making me squeal with laughter, and carried me to our bedroom. ‘Because this could take a while.’

The evening couldn’t have gone any better, I thought later on, gazing over at him as I handed him a plate of goulash.

We hadn’t just made love, we’d laid in each other’s arms, limbs entangled in the sheets, listening to the rain drumming against the window, just talking about nothing in particular. It had felt like the early days when he’d been so tender and attentive, seemingly captivated by every word I said. The rain stopped, but the sky had stayed dark and eventually our hunger had driven us from the bedroom.

‘This smells fantastic,’ said Harvey, bending down over his plate. He scooped up a spoonful of yogurt. ‘And is this definitely fat-free?’

‘Yep,’ I said, pleased with my efforts. ‘Would you like wine?’

I unscrewed the bottle and held it poised over a glass. He looked at it and wrinkled his nose.

‘White? With goulash?’ He gave me a pitying smile. ‘Oh Lottie, I know you’ve tried, but the clue is in the paprika. You need something full-bodied to go with goulash.’ He grinned slyly. ‘Like yourself.’

‘Hey!’ I said, feigning mock affront when, in truth, I was a bit offended. I could have countered that I’d sought advice in the supermarket for the best wine to accompany our meal but there was no way I was going to let anything ruin the mood tonight. ‘Nothing wrong with child-bearing hips.’

‘I bet that was what Darren thought about your Evie; how wrong could he be?’ Harvey sniggered.

I counted to five under my breath. ‘So, do you want wine or not?’

‘Go on then,’ he said, sighing. He winked. ‘You could have one too, seeing as you’ve burned off all those calories.’

I chose not to rise to the bait. I’d have been having a glass for Dutch courage with or without our bedroom workout.

‘I intend to,’ I said, pouring some for us both. ‘I think we should celebrate all the small things in life.’

‘What are you calling small?’ said Harvey, waggling his eyebrows.

‘I had a really good day at work today,’ I said, ignoring his innuendo, and taking a seat beside him.

Harvey eyed my large glass of wine and then stood up and poured us both a glass of water. ‘At a crematorium?’ he said sceptically. ‘I’ll take your word for it.’