‘Then why did you take it on? Why did you want to go to Ireland anyway?’ His jaw went from side to side as he chewed, adding emphasis to his disapproving tone.

Hoping (unrealistically she knew) that it was just that: her father didn’t like the idea of her being so far away, she ploughed valiantly on: ‘Jobs like that are quite hard to get into. In England you have to work your way up. After the literary festival, and I told you how successful that was—’

‘But it didn’t pay very well, did it?’ persisted her father.

For some reason she didn’t quite understand she hadn’t told her parents about her bonus. ‘I didn’t do it for the money, I did it because I love working with books and writers.’ Why couldn’t her father ever just be happy that she was doing what she enjoyed? Why did he always have to bring money into it? It wasn’t as if she ever asked them for a loan or anything. ‘Anyway, I met this woman who put me in touch with my new job.’ She felt too deflated to tell them about Gerald in detail.

‘But why go off to Ireland?’ insisted her father. ‘There are plenty of jobs here.’

‘But this is an opportunity to do what I’ve always wanted to do! Ever since I left university, I’ve wanted it. I’m a copy editor, and editor – a permanent one if that’s the way the work goes.’

‘In my day, sorry if that makes me sound like an old codger’ – he didn’t sound at all apologetic – ‘we didn’t do “what we’d always wanted”. We did what would put food on the table and pay the mortgage.’

Laura sighed and put her hand on his where it lay on his rolled-up table napkin. ‘I know, Dad, and I’m really grateful that you did all that so you could keep Mum and me, but I haven’t got to keep anyone else except myself.’

‘Forgive me for saying this, Laura,’ he went on, removing his hand, ‘but it strikes me that young people nowadays are all me, me, me.’

Defeated, Laura turned her attention to the shepherd’s pie, which was delicious.

‘I’ve got pineapple upside-down cake for pudding,’ said her mother. ‘I know that’s your favourite.’

It had been her favourite when she was nine years old but she’d never felt able to tell her mother her tastes had changed.