‘And will you still want to see me?’

The question takes us both by surprise. I want to say yes – to do my usual thing of saying what makes someone happy, even if I don’t mean it. But is that the truth? I don’t want to promise what I can’t deliver, not this time.

‘Forget it,’ she says when I don’t answer.

‘Let’s see if you want to see me, eh?’

She falls silent and I know I’ve screwed up. The right thing to do is to reassure Casey that I’ll be in her life and I’ll make it up with Angelica, and we’ll all support each other and be like the Hugh Grant movie she mocked the other day. Because I wasn’t fooled; I know it’s what she wants.

Gemma would expect me to stick around too. The Dan she’s met is at peak goodness, stepping up to the plate. But that’s not the real me – I hardly recognize myself these days. If she even knew a fraction of what I’ve done in the past, she’d loathe me so much.

Casey’s given up on her napkin origami and is tearing her snack box into confetti. Tonight I’ll be taking total responsibility for the first time. And tomorrow we have an entire unfilled day ahead.

I WhatsApp Veej, asking for advice on where I could take her:

I’m back from Berlin, so why don’t you come meet me and Harrison in the yurt, I bet she’d love it! Or we could get the whole gang together. We’re pissed off you haven’t introduced her already.

I type back my reply:

Possibly next week.

He answers:

Don’t keep putting it off or we’ll turn up and stage an intervention. But if you want to give Casey a treat, why not ASK her what she wants to do?

Why is what seems so hard to me so obvious to everyone else? I guess I can’t remember my dad ever asking me what I wanted. Poor little me.

I put the phone face down on the table. ‘So, we’ve got tomorrow to ourselves now. What do you fancy doing? There are loads of attractions – the SS Great Britain, the M Shed museum. Or stuff outdoors? The forecast is good. Your choice.’

Casey continues her shredding and I wonder if she’s heard me. Then she looks up and I might be imagining it, but there’s a cunning look in her eye. ‘I quite fancy a balloon ride.’

‘I don’t think your mum would approve of that. Plus, they get very booked up in the summer.’

‘Can’t think of anything else.’ She sighs and lays her head on the table, and I am glad Angelica isn’t here to see that, as I haven’t wiped it down.

‘Come on, Casey. Bristol is full of cool things.’

She sits up. ‘Thought of something. Could we have Bear over to the penthouse?’

‘Bear?’ I feel a brief flutter inside my belly. Imagine Gemma’s smiling face, her eyebrow raised in a challenge. Her lips. A third chance to kiss them.