‘Anyway, you caught me on a good day. I was feeling generous, so turned up,’ she said.

‘Oh great. First round’s on you, then.’ He grinned, then swung the door open, standing back to allow Lizzie to walk in first. She ducked under his arm and entered what she could only describe as a dingy dive. The place probably looked the same now as it had thirty years ago. And, after a quick glance around the small bar area, she reckoned the few punters were likely the same ones who drank there thirty years ago too. Now, as it’d been then, it was the only watering hole for about ten miles. For a second, she wondered if any of these people were Billy Cawley, but then dismissed the idea – if he was back, she couldn’t imagine the locals would allow him to drink in their pub.

‘All right, Dave,’ Rob said as he approached the bar. ‘Pint of Hunters Premium, please, mate. And …’ He held his hand, palm up towards Lizzie. ‘What about you?’

‘Oh, erm … gin and slimline tonic, please.’ Lizzie smiled at Dave, who didn’t return the gesture. She already felt uncomfortable being there. ‘I’ll just go and sit down, then.’ She walked to the table farthest from the bar and the other drinkers – which, she realised, wasn’t far enough. She could hear them talking and caught ‘bloody outsider’, and ‘no doubt after a story’ and sank a little lower in the chair. She knew it would be this way, but that didn’t make it any less awkward. Lizzie got the impression she wasn’t going to be winning friends anytime soon. In a moment of madness, she almost shouted, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ She was damned sure they’d be all interested if they realised. Interested, or angry. Probably neither was an outcome she really wished for. Best to bite her tongue and take the hostility on the chin.

‘There you go, Lizzie. I got him to jazz it up a bit.’ He smiled, indicating the glass. Lizzie gave him a frown in return. Rob, obviously realising she didn’t have a clue what he was referring to, added: ‘Ice and a slice? Plus a straw. As jazzed up as it gets here,’ as way of explanation.

‘Oh, I was rather expecting an umbrella.’

‘Really? I can—’

‘I was joking, Rob.’

‘Oh. Sorry. City humour … guess I’m not used to it.’

Lizzie shook her head mockingly. They sipped at their drinks for a while without speaking. Her mind was working overtime to formulate the questions she wanted to ask him in a non-threatening way. She needed to frame them so Rob thought she were merely curious to find out what had happened in her absence, rather than grilling him as though it were the sole purpose for meeting him. A blush travelled up her neck. For the first time ever, she felt ashamed for using someone in this way.

‘If you don’t mind me asking, how come you’re spending what precious little time you have before you jet off abroad here with me, when you came to spend it with Muriel and Bella?’ Rob asked, breaking the silence.