‘Mm. I don’t remember seeing it before,’ he agrees. Why are we suddenly so stilted? Maybe he’s uncomfortable about thinking of his father having other girlfriends, although he didn’t seem that bothered before. Something’s definitely bugging him though.

‘Look. I’m sorry I suggested looking her up,’ I begin. ‘I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to your mum’s memory.’

He sighs deeply and closes his eyes for a minute, before opening them again and looking at me. His expression is suddenly full of sadness. ‘There’s something I need to talk to you about,’ he says, and a lump forms in my throat. Has he glimpsed the prize, as Sarah put it, and decided he doesn’t want it? Is he gearing himself to let me down gently? I’m so riddled with questions and self-doubt that I almost miss what he says next. ‘Googling Audrey is simple for you, right?’ he asks. ‘Fire up the search engine, enter her name and away you go. Same with reading to Isaac. Open the book and read the words.’

‘That’s pretty much the size of it,’ I agree, unsure where this is going. I thought he was going to say something about me.

‘Yeah. The thing is, it’s not so simple for me. I’m severely dyslexic. Even if I could spell Audrey Carmichael, which I couldn’t, I’d find it nearly impossible to read the results. Isaac could probably read his book more fluently than me too.’

I hear the words and try to fit them with my existing knowledge of him, but they don’t make sense.

‘But you’re a technical content creator,’ I say stupidly after a moment. ‘That’s literally reading and writing, isn’t it?’

‘No. It’s visual. I make videos. I don’t write instruction manuals. Hell, I wouldn’t even be able to read one.’ His voice has a hard edge to it that I’ve never heard before, and I suddenly realise this must be the vulnerability Jonathan warned me about.

‘And all the books you keep quoting? Jane Austen and that poem?’

‘Audiobooks or, in the case of Pride and Prejudice, the TV series. Mum loved it and practically watched it on repeat. I could probably quote the whole script.’

‘Oh, Will. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I was so crass.’ Now that he’s told me, everything makes sense, and I feel a sudden rush of affection for him. Without thinking, I step forward and wrap my arms tightly around him. After a slightly awkward moment where I think we’re both surprised by what I’ve just done, I feel his arms come up and curl around my back.