When he sang the last chorus, he stopped smouldering at the crowd and turned to me, the intensity as he sang about how he wouldn’t mind leaving his pals and his old life behind ‘if I had you’ so startling that I forgot to come in with the next line, leaving him to seamlessly finish the song.

There was a moment of utter silence, as though the whole room held its breath.

Then Adam grinned, leant forwards and kissed my cheek, and the audience erupted.

In that moment, it was hard to remember why I’d ever thought it was a good idea to break up with this man. Head spinning, heart scampering, I really needed time to think.

‘Not bad.’ Jed nodded as I walked off-stage and Adam went to put his guitar away. ‘They loved it.’

‘They loved Adam,’ I replied, still breathless. ‘He’s so good he managed to make me not bad.’

‘Yeah, well.’ Jed shrugged as though trying to dislodge a fly on his shoulder. ‘He always was good at putting on a performance.’

I stopped then, as if jerked back by an invisible string. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Jed looked at me, and in his eyes I saw pity mixed with big-brotherly concern. ‘Please make sure you know what’s real, and what’s part of the Adam Wilson show.’

‘While I appreciate you sharing your opinion, I know Adam a lot better than you. I can tell what’s real.’

‘I just don’t want you getting hurt again.’

‘It was a song, Jed. Like you said, a performance. And this may surprise you, but I don’t especially want to be hurt again, so you don’t have to worry.’

‘Okay.’

‘Yes, it is okay.’

It wasn’t okay. My head and my heart were mashed up and inside out and I hated Adam doing this to me, while at the same time I felt terrified that I might love him for it. I had the duration of a disconcertingly unpolished knife-throwing act to get myself straight before Nana Joy’s swan song. And then to make things even more mind-frazzlingly complicated, Henry stood up and beckoned me over to a free seat beside his.

‘Thanks,’ I mumbled, sliding in next to him while the crowd clapped with relief that the blindfolded weapon hurling was over.

‘Your song was excellent. Especially considering how little time you had to prepare. You and Adam make a good duo.’ He was watching the stage, so while I didn’t doubt that Henry was being as honest as always, it was hard to interpret how he felt about it.

‘I messed up at the end, but I think I might have got away with it.’

‘You seemed to be enjoying it. That’s the main thing.’

‘Did you?’

Um, what? Why on earth would I ask that?

‘Excuse me?’

‘Did you enjoy seeing me and Adam as a duo?’