If I fell for him – properly fell for him – being apart most of the time would be excruciating.

And, what if it did work out? What then? I didn’t want to move to America. Not really, and I didn’t know that I could anyway. It wasn’t like green cards grew on trees. We would have to get married if I wanted to move there. Married! The thought of it made my heart race – and not in a good way.

I supposed if Josh moved to Sydney, it would be easier – probably for both of us. He could work anywhere in the world – he was in the tech industry. And maybe someone would employ him and move him to Sydney. Then we could date properly to see if we really were compatible. And then perhaps, after some time dating, we’d move in together. That was much less dramatic than getting married for a green card.

I shook my head, stopping my thoughts from running away with themselves entirely. Planning the logistics of who would move where was doing my head in, and I really needed to focus on the now. I was with my little family, we were having a great night out, and I had to stop thinking about all the grim reasons it might not work out with Josh after the trip.

And I needed to remember that the future – if there was one with him – may not be so grim after all. Didn’t I have two great examples of things working out, right in front of me? Gerry and Duncan had met overseas and lived a world apart, yet they made it work. And Marie and Gary were ten years apart in age, and they were the most in-love couple I’d ever known.

I was getting all worked up about nothing. I didn’t need to dwell on the what-ifs, and I didn’t need to make any decisions about my love life. I needed to listen to Hannah, who was telling a story, and chill the hell out!

Hannah had the attention of the group and punctuated her story with dramatic pauses to sip from her cocktail.

‘My dad was turning sixty and he wanted us all to go somewhere special together, and he’d always wanted to ski in Europe – because we totally grew up skiing – usually every week of the season – Whistler is, like, ninety minutes away. Anyway, so his lifelong dream is to ski in Europe, and we ended up in the French Alps, right on the border of Italy.

‘So, it was me and my brother and his wife, my mum, dad – of course – and even my aunt and my cousin, staying in this gorgeous chalet – it slept sixteen – and the very first night there’s this huge dump of powder, and the next morning, there was a brilliant blue sky. I mean, perfect conditions.