Only Teddy knew how painful Nina had found the sale of her childhood home – where she had grown up with Joanie, her Aunty Niamh, Uncle Seamus and her cousin, Erin – last year. It made sense: Joanie had married, an electrician called Liam whom Nina liked, and had Carey, who was at preschool already. The house had grown too small for them all and – fortunately – rocketed in value. Joanie had worked long hours as a nurse when Nina was young and not wanting to miss another daughter grow up, had sold the little terraced house in Mile End and moved to Essex to open a floristry. Nina tried to be happy for her, and for Carey, but she confided in Teddy about the tiny little sting, like the graze of a thorn, she felt at the belatedness of her mum’s decision. At the way her life had felt upended: she’d moved with them to Essex but she didn’t know the area, it wasn’t home, and she missed her extended family – Niamh and Seamus and Erin – who had bought a large house in Ireland with their share from the sale. She tried not to mind. Reminded herself on the Tube and train journeys between central London and Essex that it was only temporary: one day, she would live with Teddy, and it would be her music playing on the radio.

Finally, the queue moved and the mustachioed server snapped her out of her reverie with a wave of his ice-cream scoop. She ordered for herself and Alice and carried the laden tubs outside, her mouth watering, Teddy still on her mind.

‘I wonder how Teddy’s been getting on in Aix,’ she said.

‘You can ask him! He’s arriving soon,’ said Alice, missing the shock passing over Nina’s face.

‘He’s coming here?’

‘Of course! To see everyone,’ said Alice, but this didn’t make sense. It was the girls’ fourth time meeting in Paris, and Teddy had been absent the other times. The skin on Nina’s face tingled gently as she fought against the smile building. Her stomach fizzed. He was coming to see her.

‘I didn’t realise you two were in touch,’ Nina said. She wanted to say, I didn’t realise you even liked each other. She knew they had seen each other briefly when they were away travelling, but no more than that. It was something she’d observed when she’d been around them and their school friends. The casual mention of bumping into someone on the Cook Islands, or a week spent on the same dive boat off the coast of Thailand. She used to marvel at these coincidences until she realised the people in Alice and Teddy’s social circle travelled to the same countries, stayed at the same places, did the same things and congratulated themselves on how worldly they were because of it.

‘It’s Erasmus,’ Alice shrugged. ‘There’s a group of us and we take it in turns to visit each other. Although we always seem to end up in Aix.’ She smiled, shaking her head.