‘Nah.’ Suzy shook her shorn head. ‘I won’t need to, Mad. Your smile says it all.’

By the time she’d had a bath and washed her hair and, wrapped in the quilted dressing gown, had staggered back into the kitchen, Suzy and Drew were setting the table. She felt slightly embarrassed, but extremely relieved that he was still there. He smiled at her. ‘Feel better now?’

‘Cleaner. Not better. You can’t improve on perfection.’

‘I’ll clear off, if you like,’ Suzy offered. ‘After all, this healthy eating is getting pretty boring.’

‘I wondered why there weren’t any Mars bars on the menu.’ Drew paused in dealing out the oddments of cutlery. ‘It’s my fault, is it? You’re getting Suzy into racing fitness?’

‘Plenty of protein,’ Maddy said dreamily, heaping fish pie and vegetables on to three mismatched plates and not adding that the economies were necessary because of her overspending with Caroline. Caroline! She blushed. ‘I thought we could both do with a change of diet.’ She turned to Suzy. ‘And you’ll stay and eat it. Otherwise you’ll be eating crisps at the Cat and Fiddle.’

‘As long as that’s all she eats at the Cat and Fiddle.’ Drew sat down beside Maddy, rubbing his long denim leg against her naked one, and making her drop her broccoli. ‘Holly popped in there for lunch the other day. She giggled all the afternoon.’

They ate cosily, with the rain sliding softly down the windowpane like silent tears. Maddy felt happy. Drew helped to wash up, despite their protestations that everything could be left to soak. It all felt so right. So perfectly right.

Sitting idly at the kitchen table with cups of strong coffee, they talked about The Derby, about Drew’s strategy for Dock of the Bay, about Luke and Richard’s battle to become Epsom’s supremo. They didn’t talk about Caroline.

Suzy stood up and grinned at them. ‘Well, if I can trust you two alone, I’m going to the Cat and Fiddle. I can’t stand you looking all dopey-eyed at each other while I’m manless. And,’ she pirouetted out of the door. ‘I do hope you took some sort of precautions. “Auntie” is such an ageing title.’

Maddy threw the tea towel at her then sank back into her chair. They looked at each other sheepishly.

‘Are you …?’ Drew stroked her fingers. ‘On the pill or anything?’

Maddy shook her head, ‘No need. I’ve been celibate for over a year. And of course, you didn’t …’

‘No, I didn’t. I hadn’t planned it.’ He lifted her hand to his cheek. ‘Maybe we were a bit irresponsible.’

‘Just a bit. I’ve always screamed at Suzy to make sure about these things. I just never thought. Oh, hell. I’m so out of touch. I suppose these days people ask each other about AIDS and things before they go to bed.’