Jo looked at Ewan as he nodded. ‘It’s a skill,’ he said. ‘To create a believable world on paper with real characters. It’s one we all have to keep working at. But tell me this, Jo Campbell, why do you write? It sounds to me like you have a busy life, running the pub and volunteering at the bookshop. I assume you’ve a family and good friends who take up your time. What makes you, at the end of the day, lift a pen and paper, or take out your laptop, and start writing? Why that, instead of sitting down to watch a good movie or having a glass of wine?’

‘Oh, I watch movies,’ she laughed. ‘Mostly children’s movies these days, mind. But I used to be borderline obsessive. Romantic comedies, mostly. When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping – that kind of thing. Or the oldies but goodies, Singing in the Rain, High Society. Anything that leaves me smiling.’

‘And children’s movies now? I didn’t realise you were a mum, sorry. What age is your little one?’

Jo shook her head. ‘I’m not a mum. She, Clara, is my little sister. My parents adopted her recently, but she’s been in our life for almost all her six years. My parents were her foster carers first. Clara and I are very close. She’s often mistaken for my daughter – she has the same fiery red hair, and fiery temper at times. She’s one of the great loves in my life. So what about you? Any little McLachlans running around?’ Of course she knew the answer to this question already thanks to her Google stalking, but she wasn’t going to admit to him that she had studied his Wikipedia page intensely that morning.

‘One, a boy. Sam. He’s a fairly typical eight-year-old. Football-mad. Addicted to Minecraft. He has to be forced to read a book every now and again. It’s fair to say he’s not a fan. He stays with me every second weekend and some of the holidays. He’s a good kid, you know, coped admirably when his mother and I divorced. Probably better than I or my ex-wife did.’

‘I’m sorry your marriage broke down,’ Jo said.

‘It happens,’ Ewan shrugged. ‘It was a couple of years ago now. We’ve all had time to come to terms with it and find a new way of being a family. To be honest, I think Sam likes that he has two bedrooms, and gets two lots of Christmas and birthday presents. The world can be gloriously uncomplicated when you’re eight, don’t you think?’