But then she stood, sliding her glasses on to the top of her head, smiling that beautifully weird smile of hers that at first he’d found so difficult to draw.

He’d got it now, though. He’d learnt just to make the eyes much darker so you couldn’t see into her. How to twist the lips at a slight angle and then the resemblance was uncanny. Danny wondered whether anyone else saw as many faces as he did, but he had captured every one of hers in his book.

‘I hope you’re not following me,’ she said, which was clearly absurd when he’d been there first.

David pulled out the chair beside him for Iona. She was such a pleasantly warm girl. He enjoyed her company and had been about to ask after her day on the mainland when Maria leant over the table and said, ‘David, can you light the candles?’

He smiled at his wife as he looked up, but she was glaring back at him. She’d been in a funny mood for the last couple of weeks and he was tired of it. It was summer, their favourite time of year, and they should be happy. If she didn’t want Iona to join the family every night, which he suspected was her issue, then why didn’t she just say so?

He lit the wicks as Maria ladled chilli into Stella’s bowl, passing the spoon to Bonnie. Iona must be able to sense the frostiness, but she was covering it up nicely with a level of maturity his wife wasn’t showing.

Picking up the bottle of wine, he popped out the cork and sniffed it though he had no idea what it should smell of. As soon as he placed the bottle on the table, Iona took it and poured herself a large glass.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Maria’s intense stare. And now Bonnie, who was glowering at her friend’s glass. David opened his mouth to tell Bonnie she could try a little drop if she liked, but something stopped him. Maybe it would only bring attention to the age difference, and he didn’t want to encourage it.

Instead he settled in to enjoy his meal when Maria suddenly demanded across the table, ‘Tell us where you were living before you moved here, Iona?’

For heaven’s sake. She was on that again.

To eliminate any atmosphere, he played along. ‘Maria’s right. We know nothing about your family.’ He smiled warmly as the pinkness on Iona’s neck turned a hue darker.

‘My mother moved around a lot since I was five,’ Iona said.

‘Like a traveller?’ Stella piped up.

‘Yeah, something like that.’

‘Do you live in homes?’

‘Of course they live in homes,’ Maria snapped. She was still staring at Iona, and David felt incredibly uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.