Dee produced a glass of what looked like vodka and gave it to Penny, who drank most of it at a gulp. Alcohol had made her franker than she would normally be. ‘It’s only one night,’ she said, looking at me for reassurance. ‘It’ll all be over tomorrow.’

‘Of course it will,’ I said. I patted her shoulder and left her with Dee and Kathy.

Graham gave me a glass of wine. I waved to Leo who was nuzzling his girlfriend in a niche beside the bar. Penny’s friends and supporters were out in force tonight. I drank my wine, danced with Graham and then with Caz’s partner who turned out to be a music critic with a mordant sense of humour. My ears got attuned to the noise and I began to enjoy myself. After a while I saw Mel and Jasper easing their way between the dancers to join us.

‘I was right about that dress, wasn’t I?’ Mel crowed.

I looked down at myself. ‘Yes, you were.’

Jasper kissed me like an old friend. Of course he was a good dancer, I discovered, when the time came for him to ask me. More drinks arrived. The DJ finally bawled that he was taking a break right now and we were all great and he’d be back later.

The band members were tuning up. I watched Jerry, minus Cassie now, as he adjusted the height of the mike stand and swung his hips to the music in his own head. Under the lights his skin shone as if it had been polished. Then, in the line-up behind him, I caught sight of someone else I knew. He fitted his lips purposefully to the mouthpiece of a trumpet and lowered it again to lean across to the trombonist standing next but one to him. It took me a second to place the man, because he was wearing a black T-shirt with a white Marilyn Monroe image instead of his schoolteacher’s blue shirt, but then I had him worked out. It was definitely Mr Rainbird from Jack’s school.

‘All right, friends,’ Jerry crooned into the mike. ‘Here we go now. One, two, three.’

They launched raggedly into ‘Mustang Sally’. I leaned back against the bar and laughed at the happy absurdity of it. It was Penny’s Evelyn’s ex’s and Mr Rainbird’s soul band. They had plenty of brass and enthusiasm, and Jerry’s voice wasn’t bad at all. It soon turned out that they had a wide repertoire, covering the standards from ‘Knock on Wood’ to ‘Three Little Birds’, and everyone was up and dancing. Mel inclined her head to mine and a spiral of her hair tickled my cheek.

‘What do you think?’ I shouted.

She rolled her eyes. ‘The big time beckons Jerry.’