They don’t have to do it on his terms: he sees her. She doesn’t like the limelight, not really. She likes a quiet life. Okay, well, great: he can do quiet. Everything is different now. What got him here won’t get him to where he wants to be, with his own family as his phone’s wallpaper. Things don’t change until you change them. Duke is going to change his priorities. The world might love him – and for that he is truly, honestly, so very grateful – but there’s only one person who truly counts. And now he’s met Evie, he doesn’t see how it can be anyone but her. She’s the first woman to get him, properly, outside of everything else.

‘Five minutes,’ the driver says, and it occurs to Duke, suddenly that he doesn’t have a ticket to get to Evie’s departure gate. He pulls up the departure information on his phone to see which terminal she leaves from. He’ll have to buy a last-minute ticket for the same flight so he can get through security. Easy. Many a problem can be solved with the right credit card.

‘Good luck,’ the driver tells him, as Duke pays his taxi fare. ‘And remember,’ he adds. ‘Love and fishing. Nothing else matters.’

‘Love and fishing,’ Duke repeats. ‘Merry Christmas.’

Inside is chaos. It’s incredibly busy, with people in big, snaking lines at check-in desks in a way that Duke hasn’t seen for a long time: he’s used to private check-in at the very least, if not a private plane. But he’s here, and he can make it work.

Two teenage girls stood with their parents nudge each other as he passes by, looking for somewhere to buy a ticket, and he flashes a smile but doesn’t stop. He’s a man on a mission.

‘Can I buy a ticket here?’ he asks a flustered assistant at the first-class check-in for KLM. ‘I need to get through security to get to …’ Wait. What is he doing? This person doesn’t need his life story. The cab driver got enough of that. ‘Just one first-class ticket for the 12:10 to Salt Lake City, please,’ he says, remembering to give that famous Duke Carlisle smile.

‘Any luggage, sir?’ she says, only barely concealing her confusion that he doesn’t seem to even have carry-on with him.

‘I sent it ahead,’ Duke lies, because he can’t get into it.

‘Excellent, sir,’ she says, presenting him with everything he needs. ‘Have a safe flight.’