The woman looked at the man, he looked at her, then they both looked back at me with easy matching smiles, and I couldn’t quite believe they’d bought it.

‘I’m Aleister Vega,’ the man said, squatting to hold out his hand. I saw Andrew being locked into his seat, then stood up to shake the proffered appendage. ‘And this is my wife, Selina.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ I said, their clashing perfumes settling in the back of my throat, tacky and acidic. ‘Francesca …’ What was my fake last name again? ‘Anderson. Francesca Anderson.’

‘That’s a gorgeous gown,’ Selina said. ‘It looks so charming on you.’

I couldn’t quite work out where Aleister had cobbled together his accent, but Selina and her proportionally perfect face were American. She’d clearly had some work done, but it was excellent work and she looked beautiful and refreshed rather than overdone. Aleister’s surgeon had not been so kind. The skin around his eyes had been tightened up just a little too much, giving him the permanent look of someone who had just found out Ryan Reynolds used to go out with Alanis Morrissette.

‘We saw you with Evan and simply had to come over and introduce ourselves,’ Selina said. ‘We’re very good friends of the family.’

‘Oh, isn’t that just wonderful?’ I said, raising one hand to my neck as it began to burn. This was the perfect time for a panic rash. ‘He had to take a phone call, but I’m sure he’ll be back in a minute.’

‘I’ve known him since he was born,’ Aleister said, shaking his head as though he could barely believe it even though he had to be at least twice as old as Evan. ‘Great kid, always on the move.’

‘And such a catch,’ Selina added with the knowing smile of a woman who knew nothing.

‘I was very close with his mother,’ Aleister said. ‘We were on the board of a lot of the same charities. Tragic, to lose her so young, very sad. She was a wonderful woman.’

I squeezed the bear’s paw tightly. Evan’s mother was dead?

‘And I’ve always felt maternal towards Evan myself,’ Selina said, gazing up at the sky as though she expected a chorus of angels to appear and serenade her beneficence. ‘That’s why we wanted to introduce ourselves. We were just walking by and I said to Aleister, how long has it been since we saw Evan looking so happy?’

‘How long since you’ve seen him looking unhappy?’ I quipped.

‘I don’t think he’s been himself since that fiasco of an engagement,’ Aleister replied gravely. ‘But that only lasted, what, a week?’

‘A month at most,’ Selina guessed, ‘and I heard she proposed to herself. Then he was seeing the model, wasn’t he? The Russian girl?’