“Oh, and do tell me what that was, Judge Judy.”

“You’d get nowhere with her with that sarcasm, Misha,” he observes. “Charlie’s just worried because he saw you chatting up a good-looking bloke.” I open my mouth to protest, and he points a warning finger at me. “Okay, saw you being chatted up by a good-looking bloke. He was bound to be pissed off. You’ve never displayed any hint of wanting a relationship before, so why would you want one with him?”

“Because he’s him,” I say, mystified.

“But does he know that, or does he think you’re just going with the flow?”

I pause, thinking hard. “I told him I wanted it to be just us,” I say slowly.

“Did you show him that, though?”

I suddenly remember Charlie “giving” me that song this morning, his face warm and his eyes lit up as the tender lyrics played. Then I remember the piss-taking way I’d replied. I groan. “Shit!”

“Exactly,” he says. “You’ve been flippant, haven’t you?”

“How do you know?”

He looks over at where his ex is standing, dark and handsome amongst his group of wedding guests. As usual, Max looks up, as if he’s aware of every step and movement that Felix makes. Felix just shakes his head. “It’s a family trait,” he says.

“I was flippant this morning when he tried to say something loving. It was only supposed to be for a minute, and then I was going to think of something better, but then he had a seizure, and I got occupied in looking after him.” I’m rambling, but he nods as if he understands.

“And that might be another problem, Misha.”

“What?”

“Do you know another word apart from ‘what’?”

“Not at this precise moment.”

He shrugs. “Charlie’s a very proud man. He prides himself on being positive and happy and good to people. That means he doesn’t react well when his body lets him down. I bet that he was uncomfortable with having a seizure in front of you. I’d also lay odds that he took one look at that bloke you were talking to and thought you’d be happier with someone like that. Charlie’s a caretaker by nature. He’s not comfortable when the shoe’s on the other foot.”

“But it’s the same shoe it’s always been.”

“But you’re not the same people now,” he says patiently. “You’re boyfriends now. It’s vastly different.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” I say almost petulantly. “I love him, and he’s mine to look after. Where’s the problem in that, Felix?”

He nudges me. “Have you actually told him that?”

“Yes,” I say slowly. Then I give myself a moment to think about it. Shock blasts through me. “Oh shit,” I mutter. “I thought he knew. He knows me inside out. He should know that I love him.”