Then she realised Isaac was pressing a glass of juice into her hand and chatting easily to Garrick and Eleanor, asking how they liked living in continental Europe compared to the States. Lily half-listened to Eleanor replying, ‘We loved the standard of living in Connecticut but the canton of Zug is well-off too. Corporate head offices are attracted by low taxes.’

‘We’re definitely attracted by the idea of earning a lot and spending a lot,’ Garrick put in.

Lily managed to unfreeze and join in the laughter. Garrick was friendly! Not just business-friendly as you might be with anyone working on the same project, someone you’d been copied into emails with, but warm and twinkly, as if he already considered her a friend. She’d experienced the same instant ease when she’d first gone to Middledip and met Tubb but hadn’t dared hope it might happen again. She listened raptly as Garrick talked about the family travels and how they were looking forward to snowshoeing and skiing now the snow was coming down.

He smiled at Lily. ‘Let me introduce you to Kirstin, Stephen and Felix. You’ve been working with Kirstin on the project and Stephen and Felix will be with her on the stand at the Food, Lifestyle & Health show.’ Garrick, as a key account manager, worked more on the meetings that would take place at the show than the mechanics of organising the stand.

Lily nodded and smiled, steadying herself with a good slug of wine while Garrick ushered her through the groups of people, his hand on her elbow. A lump rose to her throat. Her brother had just touched her. She gathered herself sufficiently to smile and chat with Kirstin, who was thin, dark and intense. Her Asian grandparents had been the first of her family to come to Switzerland and she spoke Bengali as well as Swiss-Deutsche, English and French. Stephen and Felix could have been brothers with fair skin and mousy hair. All of them seemed excited and even slightly overawed to be invited to the home of the big boss.

‘We’re all excited by your project,’ Kirstin murmured to Lily, eyes dancing. ‘Despite being Swiss, British Country Foods is getting more British by the day. Everyone has been talking about “the British visit”.’

‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for us. Are there many British people working at the company?’ Lily asked, settling down now Garrick had moved off to talk to Carola and Neil.

Stephen nodded. ‘There are lots of British in Zug but French, Dutch, Italian and German too. Los is a good businessman. He headhunts the right people of any nationality.’

‘That’s brilliant,’ said Lily, thinking of Max and Garrick moving their households to Switzerland as a result of getting opportunities with British Country Foods. They moved on to talking about Lily’s accident and Lily introduced Isaac so Kirstin, like Max, could thank him for saving the project.