Soph glides over to the fridge and pulls one out and hands it to him. He does a swap and gives her the magnum, which she pops in the freezer.

‘We were just reminiscing about our Pussycat Dolls performance.’

‘Oh, then I’m going to need something stronger than this beer. In fact, why don’t we open the champagne? This is an occasion for us all to celebrate. The gang all being back together.’

‘Hadn’t we better wait for Joel to get here?’ says Soph.

My heart feels like it stops.

‘Joel’s coming, here?’ I stutter.

‘I hope so,’ says Douglas. ‘I’m staying with him tonight.’

‘I thought you said that he was working abroad?’ It was one thing edging out of my comfort zone to what felt like an adjacent country, but this feels like I’m about to cross a continent.

‘He was, until he broke his ankle, then he wasn’t allowed to work with plaster on so he stayed with Mum whilst he recuperated. Then typical Joel, always landing on his feet, he got offered a job at the local boatyard and he decided to stay for the summer.’

‘Right,’ I say, quietly breaking out into a cold sweat.

‘So, what are we saying, yes to the champagne?’ Douglas raises his eyebrows.

‘It’ll be warm,’ says Soph, pulling a bottle of Prosecco out of the fridge. ‘We can drink this until it chills.’

I look at the bottle and remember my car parked outside. I’m torn between wanting to drive away and wanting to drink the whole bottle.

‘I shouldn’t, I’m driving.’

‘You can stay over if you want to have a drink. I can’t promise it will be the best sleep you’ve had as Alfie will probably scream the house down.’

‘Are you sure that would be OK?’

‘Absolutely. I would have asked before, but I didn’t want to put too much pressure on you.’

Douglas doesn’t hang around popping the cork and Soph scrambles to grab some glasses.

They’re distracted with the Prosecco and I sit down at the kitchen table before my legs give way. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to see Joel again after all these years. I thought I was in love with him, but reading the emails from the past has made me realise how young we were and I wonder if it was just lust. A mixture of hormones and being away from home for the first time.

Douglas hands me a glass and I down it almost in one.

‘Yes, Edie, just like the old days.’

He downs his too and then fills us both up with another glass.

‘Shall we go outside?’ asks Soph.

‘Great idea.’

I follow the others out and we sit on deck chairs and Soph pops Alfie onto a blanket in the middle.