Gerry took over the story. ‘But, you know, I have been warning him ahead of time that he should learn some things to say to my family – especially my mother. And so he learns “hello”, “nice to meet you”, “thank you”, “please” – nothing special …’ Her dig at Duncan’s lack of linguistic skills was met with laughter.

‘And then towards the end of the first day, all the women are there, making preparations for dinner – my mother, my aunts, my grandmother – and Duncan gets up to leave the room, and my mother, she says in her very best English, “Duncan, where are you going?” Well, Duncan, he says – and I am saying this exactly as he said it – “I’m going to change my pantalones.” Exactly that. One word in Spanish and, oh, didn’t the women swoon!

‘You should have heard them! On and on in fast Spanish – so impressed. “Oh, Geraldine, he is so charming, your man.”’ Gerry looked over at Duncan and rolled her eyes. The rest of us were laughing – including Duncan. And then Gerry’s façade broke into a huge smile and she laughed along with us. ‘One word of Spanish …’ She trailed off, laughing too hard to finish.

‘What?’ asked Duncan, throwing his arms out wide. ‘It’s a good word – it’s, like, one of ten I can remember – even now.’

Gerry grabbed his face in one hand, and kissed him on the mouth with a loud smack. ‘My man. You are so charming!’ She snuggled in closer.

They were such a sweet couple.

‘Duncan, mate, you speak more Spanish than me, and I took it for four years in high school.’ Josh had attempted to say ‘mate’ with a broad Aussie accent. Abysmal. Still, he’d tried.

Maybe he would come and visit me in Sydney some time – pick up some more Aussie lingo. I could teach him how to say ‘mate’ properly. Hold on. What was I thinking?

Many, many times I had let myself fantasise about a future with James, but with Josh, it was less about a fantasy and more about the reality of our situation. I didn’t like letting my mind go to that place. How on earth could it work out between us after this trip? Especially as we lived half a world apart?

Was I just scared?

I mean, James was the fantasy, right? A prince to rescue an extremely single princess. I could dream about a life with him the same way I would fantasise about a film star or the super-hot guy at the gym who I never spoke to, but had caught me watching him work out a few times. It was fun to think about. But every time I thought about Josh outside the confines of the trip, I got in a knot in my stomach.

Josh could be the real thing, and truth be told, that terrified me.