Mary glanced over at Susie, who was still chatting to Della. If Susie was irritated by her husband’s flirting, she showed no sign.

Robbie was twisting a corkscrew into another bottle of wine, while holding court with the Bowmans, a couple Mary didn’t know very well. The husband seemed to be asking Robbie for something but his voice was too low for Mary to hear.

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Robbie said, as the cork finally popped. ‘Leave it with me.’

Mr Bowman clapped Robbie on the back. ‘You’re a gentleman and a scholar.’

‘You’re a lifesaver. Gavin needs a bit of focus for the summer,’ the wife added, her hand on Robbie’s arm. Mary wondered what exactly they were asking. Gavin, their sixteen-year-old son, with his headphones permanently clamped to his ears and his hands permanently stuffed in his pockets, could certainly do with a bit of focus, but she wasn’t quite sure where Robbie came into it.

Susie sidled up to Mary. ‘I caught the end of that – what’s Robbie doing for Gavin Bowman?’

‘I have no idea,’ Mary said. ‘I’m curious too.’

‘Mark’s in school with Gavin,’ Susie whispered. ‘I wouldn’t be his biggest fan. Good-looking boy but … anyway, whatever Robbie is organizing for him, he’s a saint. You’re married to a saint, you know that, Mary? You do, I’m sure.’

Mary glanced over at Robbie, who still had Mrs Bowman on his arm. People had no idea what other people’s lives were really like, she thought, before turning back to Susie.

‘And you are married to the most charming man in Rowanbrook,’ she said loyally, smiling at her friend.

‘Don’t I know it,’ Susie said darkly, before rushing to stop Luke grabbing a third slice of cake.

Mary looked around the kitchen. Happy guests. Full drinks. Half-eaten cake. Smiling birthday girl. It was all in hand. Over by the back door, Ines had finished smoking her cigarillo and was searching for somewhere to extinguish it. Mary took an ashtray from the kitchen shelf and brought it to her neighbour.

‘We must go now,’ Ines said. ‘I must finish packing for my trip. Thank you for inviting us.’

‘Are you off anywhere nice?’ Della asked, coming up behind Mary.

‘Spain, to see my mother. One month.’

Mary could sense Della’s jaw drop. Della hadn’t had a holiday since before the twins were born.

‘God, isn’t that grand for you. And who’ll mind Cora all that time?’ Della asked, nodding towards where Cora was fixing something in Lily’s hair.

‘Cynthia will take care of her after school, and Victor will of course be there every evening and weekend.’

‘Goodness, she’ll miss you!’ Della said.

‘She will be fine. It is not good to spoil children with too much attention. They will never learn to be in the world if we wrap them in wool. It is just four weeks.’

Ines gave a little shrug, as though disappearing for a month at a time was a perfectly usual thing to do. For Ines, it was. For as long as Mary had lived in Rowanbrook, Ines had flitted in and out as took her fancy – health farm stays, shopping trips to New York, visits to her family in Spain, and even one memorable month-long trip to the Maldives.