‘What’s stopping you?’

‘You just want to shame me, Pax.’

She laughed, looking away, hating the truth bared. ‘You think I’m that cruel?’

‘I think you’re that pissed off with me.’

‘It’s them, not you.’ She shook her phone, as if little voodoo dolls of the Forsyths would rattle around inside and break a few bones. ‘And I do want to know your story.’ As she said it, she realised it was true. She’d never met anyone who had openly admitted to sharing the same problem. ‘It might help. I won’t shame you, I promise. We have time. The Grand-Forces’ train is barely pulling out of Cheltenham.’

The smile fought her off. ‘You really think it’ll help?’

‘Yes.’ Curiosity catching hold, Pax pushed harder. ‘Tell me how you reached your plum gin moment?’

In the back seat, Knott stood up to stretch and curl back down again. The car rocked as a gust of wind caught it.

Pax turned her phone to airplane mode. There was something strange happening inside the Noddy car, a shift in atmosphere she couldn’t place, but it made her nerve ends tingle, her resolve deepen. She was known in the family for her ability to get blood from a stone, as well as her patience. She crossed her arms and settled back. This was a stand-off.

Luca stared out at the road. ‘You’re a stubborn woman.’

‘Yip.’ The car rocked again in the wind. ‘When did it start?’

‘A while back. I’ve always liked a few jars with the lads, you know? I was no lightweight.’

‘What changed?’

‘Oh, the usual. Unlucky in love.’

‘Get dumped, get drunk?’

‘Her dad had other plans for her and warned me off, but yeah, same end result.’

‘How old were you?’

‘Late twenties. I took a job out in the Middle East afterwards. Muslim country, but we all drank more than a night on the lash back home. Hard liquor, none of your Beamish and lager. I got my taste for Scotch there, I guess. I was downing a hell of a lot more by the time I came back.’ He threw a glance at her, eyes intense.

‘Go on.’

‘Things had gone badly out there. They didn’t get much better when the fella who’d warned me off his daughter offered me my old job back in Canada. I figured I’d got over it enough, and I wanted to stay out of Europe. Grand yard, he has, middle of nowhere. He can out-drink anyone and still jump off fastest against the clock. I kind of carried on in that fashion.’

‘Nothing to do with the daughter?’

‘She married someone else.’ His eyes flashed. ‘They moved away.’

‘This is where you were working before you came here?’

He nodded. ‘I went back most years. Your man there breeds horses like you’ve never seen, cool-headed as fighter pilots and scopey as hell, not like your tough hot bloods here. It’s a big old place – a thousand hectares, near enough – easy to find your own headspace. Never as many stars in the sky as there.’ Smiling, he looked away again.