As the evening progressed and conversation eddied Lily edged her way to the teen corner where Emily was animated and smiling despite the crusty graze beneath her eye, possibly because she was sharing a little sofa with Warwick.

Heart lurching, Lily introduced herself to Myla and Xander. Xander grinned and bobbed his head shyly and turned straight back to talking to Charlotte but Myla was chattier. She sounded completely American and was full of when she would begin her university education. ‘It’s just so cool being here in Europe,’ she kept saying. ‘There’s like so much choice if you enjoy working with languages. I’m so going to do that, when I’ve travelled.’

‘I lived in Spain for a couple of years.’ Lily explained about Sergio and his family.

Myla’s eyes lit up. ‘Maybe you could get me a job there? It would be cool.’

Instantly, Lily found herself feeling protective of this girl who didn’t know she was Lily’s niece and maybe never would. ‘Not at Bar Barcelona,’ she said firmly. ‘It’s a zoo.’

‘Sounds like my kind of bar.’ Myla laughed, then turned to talk to Eddie and Alfie, both of whom were drinking beer, getting pink in the face and gazing at Myla.

Tanja and a young woman began setting out a buffet on a large table against the far wall. Bread and bagels, quiche-like tarts called Käseküchlein, small glasses of cold carrot and coriander soup, cheeses set out on cutting boards, sausages in coils of pastry, thinly sliced beef rolled up around cream cheese, salmon rolled with radish, chicken wings, slaw, houmous, slices of pizza, mango rolled in sesame seeds, little cups made of pastry or tortilla with their fillings spilling out, breadsticks and things on skewers … it was a colourful feast.

Beside her, Isaac said, ‘I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I saw that lot.’

Lily agreed. ‘It smells gorgeous too.’

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I’ll hold both plates then you can use your good hand to fill them.’

The teenagers had already fallen on the food. Carola went a bit pink and suggested that they might like to let their hosts go first but Los laughed good-naturedly. ‘The guests must enjoy themselves! Let the young people eat.’

Tanja laughed too. ‘We have a little more in the kitchen.’

When Lily had filled plates for herself and Isaac they found a place to sit down to eat. The teens had claimed bar stools at the bar between kitchen and lounge, which left plenty of chairs and sofas for everyone else.

Lily’s hand was beginning to throb and she laid it in her lap, grimacing. ‘What I hadn’t really appreciated is that when you wear a sling people tend to give you a wide berth. You don’t realise how many brush against you usually until it hurts every time they do.’

Isaac put down his plate. ‘I’ll fetch it.’