‘It’s cool,’ he smiles and slips a hand onto my knee under the table.

I feel a prickle of anticipation. Earlier, when Ajay asked if he could stay the night at mine, so he could drink and not have to drive, I’d made it clear he’d have to sleep in the spare room.

‘I like a bit of competition.’

‘Oh, you do, do you?’ I flirt back unashamedly.

Several drinks later and of course we both know he isn’t going to be in the spare room. Like I said, I’m determined to throw caution to the wind and start living in the moment.

‘In that case, they’re the ones to watch out for,’ interrupts Valentine, returning from the bar with a round of drinks and pointing to a table of three curly white heads, over by the dartboard. ‘The Three Degrees.’

‘Seriously?’ Ajay looks intrigued and passes him his plate of food.

‘Don’t be fooled,’ Valentine nods, lowering his voice. ‘Gladys used to set the cryptic crossword questions for the Yorkshire Standard, Janice was a local magistrate and Evelyn’s a retired head teacher.’

All of us turn our heads to look over, at exactly the same time as they look at us. There’s lots of nodding and raising of glasses in acknowledgement. I notice one of them is drinking a pint of Guinness. I watch her say something to her friends, then get up from her chair and come over.

‘Valentine, how nice to see you back at the pub quiz.’

‘Don’t talk rubbish, Evelyn.’

She lets out a cackle of laughter. ‘Aha, it’s true – I’m horrified really.’ She beams, evidently delighted. Evelyn, I notice, has quite a glint in her eye. ‘This man here is one of my arch-rivals,’ she informs the table, before turning back to him in his armchair and lowering her voice. ‘Now, I’m not going to nag, but I know you got my cards and notes, because I delivered them myself.’ Resting a hand on the arm of his armchair, she fixes him with a firm gaze that is a world away from patronizing head tilts and sympathetic platitudes. ‘And I know what it’s like to be too proud to ask for help, as it was the same for me when my Charlie fell ill.’

They share a look. Valentine nods but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to.

‘But you know where I live, so I’ll leave it at that.’ Satisfied she’s got the message across, Evelyn turns to the rest of us with an authoritative air. ‘Now, may the best man win.’

‘Or woman,’ I add and she registers me with approval.

‘Wow – it’s packed,’ says Maya, returning from outside, where she’d gone to check her messages, away from the watchful eye of the landlord.

‘I’ve never seen so many people,’ I agree, watching Evelyn weaving her way back to her table.

‘Well, it’s one of the few places we can go these days; what with the village hall being closed, it’s either this or the church,’ says Valentine, catching my eye. I make a mental note to ask him more about Evelyn later.