He pulled a comical face, and she blushed as she remembered asking Andee not to give it to him.

“I’ll call you,” he promised after storing the number in his phone, “but I’m afraid I have to go now, an early start tomorrow. Thanks for the invite tonight, it was good to be here for this special occasion.”

“Thank you for coming. I’ll walk you to the door.”

“No, don’t leave your guests. Just let me know if you need help with anything as you’re settling in. You never know, I might be useful.”

HE CALLED THE very next day, just as Claudia was about to tear out her hair with frustration. How could she not have realized these antiquated dining chairs, bought at auction, had such uneven legs, and how was she going to balance them? When her phone rang with a number she didn’t know she was tempted to ignore it, but just in case it was a delivery driver needing directions she clicked on with a tired “Hello?”

“OK, I’m going to either provide a welcome break, or get my head bitten off for calling at the wrong time.”

When she recognized the voice immediately, her irritation fled. “Hi,” she said, abandoning her impossible task and sitting up against an unpacked box.

“Is this too soon?” he asked dryly.

She gave a laugh. “No, it’s fine.”

“So how are things going? Great party, by the way.”

“Thank you, and I’m glad you rang now because I was about to stab something with a chair leg.”

“Ouch! Anything I can do?”

“It’s OK, I’ll work it out. So how are you?”

“I’m good, thanks, apart from feeling as though the RJ program is taking over my life. It’s why I’m calling, because it’s going to have me pretty tied up most evenings for the foreseeable and I didn’t want you to think I was backing out of our dinner. So I thought if I rang now and we put a date in the diary, I’d make sure to work around it.”

“That sounds a good idea,” she responded, hoping she hadn’t sounded as eager as she felt—or as apprehensive, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to dwell on that. “I’m free most of the time, or at least I can be flexible, so I’m happy to fit in with you. Oh, apart from Mondays and Thursdays; that’s when I go to watch Jasmine rehearsing with her violin teacher.”

“Four weeks to the opening night,” he responded. “Does she suffer with nerves?”

“Some days are worse than others, but I think she’ll be pretty wound up by the time it comes around.” She glanced up as her mother passed her a cup of tea and mouthed a thank-you.

“Is that him?” Marcy whispered.

Claudia raised her eyebrows—all the answer her mother needed.