On the plane, Evie glances to the left in search of Magda, who is kneeling up on her chair looking at the exit, waiting for her to confirm safe embarking. Evie waves, and Magda lights up, too far away to shout to her without disturbing the other passengers, and so settling for a thumbs up, then a thumbs down, as if to say, So, are you good? Or not? Evie gives a thumbs up, and then points her out to Duke, and he laughs when Magda gives him a double thumbs up across the aisle, and then a wink, and then a mild hip thrust, much to the disgust of the woman in 7C who catches it.

‘Okay then,’ the smiling attendant says. ‘Madam, you’re just through here and four rows up there, in the aisle, and, sir.’ She takes Duke’s ticket, and tells him he’s in the empty chair by Magda. His face falls.

‘Wait,’ he says to Evie. ‘You’re in economy?’

‘Yeah,’ Evie replies. She doesn’t expect him to ride back there with her when he can enjoy the flight up here. If anything, she’s learnt enough these past few weeks to know that nobody can’t expect him to go unnoticed, and certainly not for the next fifteen hours. ‘It’s okay,’ she tells him. ‘Go. Enjoy. I’ll see you both on the other side.’

Duke looks pained.

‘I don’t want to be apart from you,’ he says. ‘I just found you.’

‘It’s a few hours.’ Evie smiles, giving him a kiss, and he lingers, and she likes it.

‘I’m sorry, you two, but you really do need to take a seat now,’ the flight attendant says, and Duke slips Evie’s boarding pass out of her hands and gives her his.

‘See you on the other side,’ he says, as he makes his way down to her seat in coach. She looks at Magda, who is doing a silent but dramatic clapping action at this turn of events. Duke takes his seat and smiles at her up front. She blows him a kiss. What a guy.

‘So, how was it?’ Magda says, and Evie settles in beside her in first class. ‘I would say that I can’t believe he came all this way and got a ticket to freaking Salt Lake City so that he could profess his love to you, but actually, I kind of can?’

‘He didn’t profess his love,’ Evie clarifies, ‘but … I did invite him for Christmas. If that’s okay – I totally get it was just going to be us, and it’s your first one post-divorce, and he can totally just get a hotel or whatever if he needs to. You come first.’