Owen cleared his throat. ‘It’s no biggie. But you said you weren’t seeing anyone, and you gave me your number. Just say if you want me to quit bugging you.’

Owen was cute, but Charlie was always busy, studying, and working, and visiting Ed. Dating was a hassle, but she hadn’t kissed a guy since Christmas. School ended in five weeks, and a summer fling had a certain appeal …

‘I think I’m free Thursday night,’ Charlie said impulsively. ‘I’m driving so I can’t check my calendar. Call me Wednesday and we’ll meet up for coffee.’

‘Awesome,’ Owen said happily. ‘Enjoy your weekend, whatever you’re up to.’

‘I’ll try,’ Charlie said. ‘Hope your pal’s set at Tenders goes well.’

Charlie drove slow, reading the numbers off stone plinths at the foot of each grand house. Number twenty-eight was a colonial-style monster, but one side was covered in blue tarps, with an extension being built beneath a scaffold.

Mango’s oldest, Josh, raced to the door and gave Charlie a hug. Charlie said hello to Mango and her stand-offish wife, Veryan.

‘You have to see my new bedroom,’ the seven-year-old said as he tugged Charlie’s arm.

After climbing a curved marble staircase, Josh showed her several huge, bare rooms and took her to the edge of the construction zone, which was going to be a pool and a large indoor garden. Then Josh showed Charlie his room. He had a bed shaped like a racing car, and Lego sprayed over the floor. Josh proudly held up a Lego box and told Charlie he could build it easily, even though the box said age eleven plus.

Mango and Veryan’s five-year-old daughter trailed Charlie and Josh for the last part of the tour and both kids looked sad when Mango said she needed to talk to Charlie in private.

‘They’ve grown since I last saw them,’ Charlie said as Mango led her into a library.

The room had a sneezy sawdust smell from newly installed shelves, but the books remained in moving boxes and there was a brand-new desk still covered in polystyrene blocks.

‘The indoor garden will be amazing,’ Charlie said.

‘The kids can play out here now,’ Mango explained. ‘But who knows what the situation will be in a year?’

‘They reckon LHV has hit mainland Europe,’ Charlie said. ‘The first case was detected in Calais yesterday; by this morning there’s over three hundred reported cases, as far south as Milan.’

‘Scary,’ Mango said as she moved a box file off an armchair so that Charlie could sit down. ‘As soon as that antidote gets released, I want to go straight to the lab to make our own batch. Even if you’re in school.’

‘Absolutely,’ Charlie agreed. ‘Hopefully it’ll be a couple of weeks before it crosses the Atlantic.’