Josh went next, taking his sunglasses off and revealing those eyes again. ‘Hi, I’m Josh. I’m from Chicago. This is my first time leaving the US.’ Whoa. Really? I held my breath as I waited for any snippet that would reveal how old he was. ‘Uh, I work in software development, and I’m twenty-eight.’ Did he say he was twenty-eight? So not an infant. Not way off limits. Crap. No, double crap.

‘Oh,’ he said, as though remembering something, ‘and I came here because I was watching a Rick Steves episode on Santorini, and I suddenly thought, I have to go there. So, I researched trips for a couple of days and booked this one.’ He smiled, and I could see the excitement in his eyes. So, he’d booked an international trip – his first international trip – practically on a whim. It was as good a reason as any. I’d pretty much done the same thing, only my whim took hold after a sad and lonely night that included a bottle and a half of expensive wine and an entire box of tissues.

No one said anything after Josh finished, so I put my hand up to go next. ‘Hi, I’m Sarah from Sydney – easy enough to remember, I guess – I teach high school English, which I love – mostly. Sometimes the kids are ratbags, and sometimes there’s too much pointless paperwork, but I like the actual teaching part. I have been to Greece before, but not this part, and not for a really long time. I’m mostly looking forward to the food.’ And then for some reason, I added, ‘And I’m thirty-six.’ I glanced over at Josh. Did he bite his lip when I said that?

Duncan looked at Patricia, who had fallen asleep, and he artfully skipped over the drunk lady. ‘I’ll be quick. I’m Duncan, and I’m from Townsville in Queensland. I’ve sailed my whole life, and I’ve been working at this job for the past five seasons – which works out well for you lot, ’cause I know my way around the islands, and I know the locals – we’re gonna have an awesome trip.

‘Gerry and I met online last year.’ She waved at us all, and I found myself waving back. ‘She’s studying in the UK, and we meet up whenever we can and go travelling together. This trip lined up with the end of her summer break, so I invited her to come along.’ Wow. They were dating long-distance? ‘And, I promise that this –’ he signalled to himself and Gerry ‘– won’t get in the way of this.’ He then signalled to the boat and to us. So apparently my concerns were expected, but I felt like Duncan addressing it head-on was a good thing. Not only a pro, but a proactive pro.