‘So long as I don’t have to sleep in the minibus,’ Isaac said easily.

The two women continued to fire their way through the rejigging of their trip. Carola seemed more brusque than usual and twice hurried upstairs to scold Charlotte and Emily for taking too long over their packing.

‘How are you today?’ Isaac asked Lily, afforded a minute’s privacy by one of these trips.

‘Fine,’ she said absently, squinting past him at the pile of things by the door.

‘“Fine” as in, your hand is a purple, squashed mess and you’re having to deal with all this crap instead of resting and getting better? Does it hurt much?’

A smile flickered over her face. ‘Fine under exactly those terms,’ she admitted. ‘It’s throbbing like a galloping horse, to be honest. But I’ll be able to rest tomorrow once we’re on the road and Chauffeur O’Brien does all the driving.’ She paused, pushing back her hair with her uninjured hand and her smile grew warmer. ‘By the way, I don’t think I’ve thanked you for putting your life on pause to do this. You’re being brilliant.’

Her face turned up to his, eyes smiling, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to kiss her, but then Carola returned, grumbling about teenage girls spending more time arguing and texting than packing, so he just reminded her, ‘You stopped me from getting my head caved in. One good turn deserves another.’

When, quarter of an hour later, Carola charged upstairs yet again in response to raised voices from the upper storey, Isaac had no chance to cosy up to Lily as he really, really wanted to because she whispered, ‘Carola’s upset because her boyfriend, Owen, hasn’t contacted her for several days. She’s even driven to his house but he didn’t seem to be home.’

He frowned. ‘This is the guy she met through the dating site? I hope she isn’t being ghosted.’

She grimaced. ‘Is that the thing where rather than ending the relationship they just go totally silent or block you? I hope not. He seemed like such a nice guy.’

When Carola came back in, scowling, Lily gave her a hug. ‘I think we’ve done everything we need to for now. I packed on Saturday, luckily, but I can’t do up my case and my backpack needs some last-minute additions. Isaac, could you pop down with me and manage the zips?’

‘Glad to,’ he said, meaning ‘Glad to be alone with you.’

After making his farewells to Carola, who looked pale and unhappy, he followed Lily into Carola’s well-equipped kitchen and through a door that led to a narrow staircase down into the bijou apartment downstairs. Carola certainly had a hell of a place.

Isaac paused at Lily’s suitcase lying on the floor. ‘Have you packed that blue sequinned dress?’ he asked hopefully.