Daff gives me the same look she’s been giving me all morning; half pleased, half mildly bewildered. I am so different from the sullen grump she left at home last night that I wouldn’t blame her for suspecting that some sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario had taken place.

‘Well … You can give the table a wipe if you want,’ she suggests. ‘And then maybe hoover the living room?’

‘On it.’ I grab a cloth from the sink and start cleaning the table while Daff stirs the veg. She’s listening to the radio on her laptop, and the opening violin strains of ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ by Coolio suddenly ring out.

‘Oh, what a tune,’ she says, through another mouthful of Pringles. Her fingers are coated with crisp dust, so she has to tap the volume up with her knuckles.

‘A classic,’ I say, nodding to the beat.

‘I think I still know all the words to this.’ She shakes her head. ‘What a depressing use of brain space.’

‘Go on then,’ I say.

‘What?’

‘If you know all the words …’

She laughs and turns around to face me, and we are suddenly rapping Coolio’s lyrics back and forth at each other, striking increasingly ridiculous poses with the oven gloves and the J-cloth.

At some point during the second verse, I’m seized by a rush of love so overwhelming that before I know it, I’m bolting across the room to wrap my arms around her.

She laughs into my chest. ‘Oi. You cut me off mid-flow.’

‘Sorry, it was just too much.’

‘Told you I knew the words. I think I would make a great rapper, actually.’

‘You really would. It’s not too late. You should quit your job and go for it.’

I hug her tighter, and rest my chin on the top of her head. For a second, there’s only the sound of water bubbling and the turkey sizzling and spitting in the oven.

And then Daff murmurs, ‘I’ve missed this.’

‘What?’

‘This. Us. Just … being stupid. Having fun together.’

‘Me too,’ I say. I lean down and kiss her on the lips. The kind of kiss we had in the maze. The kind of kiss I haven’t given her – in the present – for years. ‘Things are going to change, Daff,’ I whisper. ‘I promise. I’m going to change.’

She laughs softly. ‘What the hell happened last night? Did Harv give you a pep talk or something?’

I shake my head. I suddenly want to come out with it – tell her about everything I’ve just been through. But I know how utterly insane it will sound, and I don’t want to risk ruining things just when they’re starting to get better.