Nico awaited her at a table at the bistro Hörnan in a navy sweatshirt that made his eyes bluer. He smiled in greeting but neither of them initiated a hug. They ordered briskly and Hannah realised, with a dreary, sinking feeling that the Nico who’d turned up this evening was the same cool, remote one of Burger Town a few weeks ago. The man who’d gazed at her hungrily as they danced at her brother’s wedding had vanished. Nico had evidently learned to thoroughly edit his feelings.

The conversation was light and impersonal. Nico asked if she’d had a pleasant flight home. She didn’t ask him why he’d gone off with Amanda Louise. She felt as if her chest walls were made of stone and it took all her energy to inflate her lungs enough to make small talk, especially as a part of her wanted to climb into his lap and seek comfort.

Nico pushed his food around his plate more than he ate it and the several bites he took looked an effort.

Presently, feeling the need to take the conversation somewhere other than the superficial, she asked, ‘Did Maria go back to Loren OK?’

Nico didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘Loren and I … are working on things.’

The words rippled through her as she absorbed them. His gentle emphasis on the final few words, the way he’d answered a different question to the one she’d asked, made it sound as if they were trying again. That was what Loren wanted, Nico had said before. Any notion she’d harboured of spilling her anxious outrage about Albin and having one week to find herself a home and way of supporting herself vanished into the bistro’s herb-scented air.

‘Fantastic,’ she said hollowly. The following silence didn’t invite further enquiry. From her bag, her phone buzzed.

‘Feel free to answer.’ With a polite smile he abandoned the remains of his fast-cooling meal and headed towards the men’s room.

Hannah read Mum on the screen and opened the message: Can we FaceTime?

With a wriggle of alarm at both the brevity and lack of kisses she replied, I’m in a restaurant. Can it wait an hour? Or should I find somewhere to call from? xx

Mo came straight back. Wait till you get home so we can talk properly. I’m in all evening. xx

Nico returned and when she told him about the texts he called instantly for the bill, which he paid without looking at her or it.

‘But I asked you to dinner for your help in setting Hannah Anna Butik on the right track,’ she protested.

He shrugged.