‘Of course he did. But not because he’s sweet – he’s a good businessman. We’re new customers and he wants to make sure we come back.’ Annie was ever the pragmatist. Julia pulled a face. ‘Well, I think it was very nice of him. Now, Billie. Start at the beginning – we need all the details.’

It didn’t take Billie long to tell them everything she knew.

‘Is that it? Don’t you even know where you were found? What you were wearing? Was there a note left with you?’ Julia was beginning to be genuinely upset on Billie’s behalf.

‘Yes, no, no and no. And it’s fine, I’m fine, honestly Julia.’

Annie considered the facts carefully as she always did.

‘Well, you probably think you are, but quite frankly it would be a bloody miracle if that were true. And anyway, you’ve already told me that it feels weird.’

‘There, see! I knew I’d miss something.’ Julia removed the pink grapefruit slice from her drink and took a swig. ‘Weird in what way?’

‘I feel like a question mark,’ Billie replied. ‘I only have Dad’s letter, and I completely understand why they did what they did. I don’t blame them in any way. But I don’t know anything about where I came from. Who I came from.’

‘Whom,’ Annie teased her. ‘If you’re going to be melodramatic, at least be grammatically correct.’

Billie smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

‘I do know that I was found at the seaside on the prom. But not exactly where. Nor by whom,’ she added.

‘Do you want to know?’ Julia was swirling the ice cubes in her drink thoughtfully. ‘It could be quite exciting. You might be the child of someone famous.’

‘Or infamous,’ countered devil’s advocate Annie.

‘Or just some poor, terrified teenager who got pregnant, panicked and disposed of the unwelcome result on the street wrapped in newspaper like the remains of a fish and chip supper.’ Billie was beginning to realise exactly what a can of worms this whole thing might be. The possibilities were infinite and some of them inevitably quite unsavoury.

‘You could have been wrapped in newspaper.’ Julia’s second gin and tonic was slipping down very easily, and her words escaped before she could properly censor them.

‘Oh God – I’m sorry, Billie. I didn’t mean that.’

Billie shook her head. ‘Don’t be sorry. Listen, I need to be able to talk about it to someone. I need to talk about it honestly. It’s true – I could have been wrapped in newspaper. My birth mother could have been a slapper, a saint, or a member of The Nolan Sisters for all I know!’

‘She couldn’t have been one of The Nolan Sisters. They weren’t formed until 1974.’

Billie laughed properly for the first time that evening. ‘How on earth do you know that, Julia?’