My mouth must have dropped open. Without thinking, I threw my arms around Mum and pulled her in for a hug. I may have hung on there for most of the evening, except that she patted my back and said, ‘Off you go, now, go and enjoy yourself. I’ll still be here.’

‘Thank you.’ Sometimes two words can convey more than a whole conversation. ‘Oh, and Mum? Back in February you bought two tickets for the outdoor theatre. Much Ado About Nothing. If you’ve asked someone else now, Karina or another friend, that’s totally fine, I understand. But if not… I’d love to go with you.’

It was Mum’s turn to let her jaw dangle. ‘Yes. I mean no! I mean, I’ve not asked anybody else.’ She paused, swallowed, gave one sharp nod. ‘That would be very nice. I’ll message you in the week with the details.’

Turning to go, I glimpsed Irene, standing stiffly under the gazebo alone.

‘Would you come and say hello to someone for me?’

Introductions made, a few more hellos and happy birthdays later, dusk was approaching as I wound my way to where Leon stood by the drinks table.

‘Hi, so pleased you could make it,’ I said, trying to sound cool and flirty but coming across like a nursery teacher greeting her class.

‘Well,’ he pulled a face, ‘I wasn’t sure if I could be bothered to come all this way, but then, you know, free food. Here.’ He held out a glass containing a swirl of pink, a sprig of mint floating amongst the crushed ice.

‘What’s this?’

‘I call it “The Olivia”.’

I took the glass, not sure whether to cringe or accept the compliment before noticing the gleam of humour in his eyes. ‘It’s a pink negroni. Legacy of a misspent summer as a cocktail waiter in Ibiza.’

‘Well,’ I said, taking a sip while breathing a sigh of relief, ‘It’s lovely. Thank you.’

‘In that case I count the summer totally worth it. Salut.’ He met my gaze over the rim of our glasses, and I felt a distinct flutter in my stomach. I resisted the urge to check the time, but by my reckoning I had about three hours left of the No-Man Mandate. Whatever time the party finished, I was declaring the Dream List complete on the stroke of midnight.

‘You look lovely, by the way,’ Leon added, and I accepted the compliment with a gracious nod, even as my face turned scarlet. It had been another challenge, deciding what to wear without any help from Steph, but I had no regrets about choosing a navy-blue dress that skimmed my curves and managed to be both dressy and comfortable whilst also feeling a teensy bit sexy, which was the perfect amount of sexy for me.

‘Hey.’

All of a sudden, a shadow loomed across what was hopefully becoming a promising conversation.