Her eyes dropped to the Buzz duvet cover, and for the millionth time I wondered what this inscrutable girl was really thinking. But then I saw a smile flit across her face and I realised she was making gentle fun of me. I recognised an opportunity when I saw one.

‘Oh sure, if you’re looking for interior design tips you know where to come, kid. Anytime.’

‘Yeah, well, I’ll let you know, babe.’

It was a relief to fall back into my natural state of banter, but Wolfie’s jokey tone sounded a little bit forced. She’d landed in a complete stranger’s house, gained a kooky uncle and become the love object of a six-year-old, so nobody would blame her for feeling the pinch, but it almost felt like we were circling each other.

I had no idea how much she knew about why Lou and I hadn’t seen each other for longer than her whole lifetime, so I didn’t know if that had anything to do with the way that she always seemed on the verge of leaving the room whenever I was in it. But now she’d voluntarily come into my space, so what did that mean? Did it mean anything?

I handed her a mug of tea, then sat myself on the end of the bed and tried to get comfortable against the wall. There was a joist jammed into my back and I felt a splinter grab hold of my sweatshirt. It felt strangely reassuring, like a tiny anchor, and kind of exactly what I needed right then.

We eyed each other for a couple of seconds, and I got that odd sensation again, like she had the upper hand and she knew it. Wolfie looked away first and nodded her head at the pile of letters on the duvet.

‘How’s it going with your fan mail?’ Again, that barely-there smile, that half-teasing tone. ‘George reckons you got loads of them. “A shit ton” were his exact words, I think.’ My exact words, actually, and I made a mental note to have a chat with George about what’s said in the shed staying in the shed.

‘I wouldn’t say a sh— Well, I wouldn’t say loads. But Pete did just bring around some more. Forty or so.’

Eighty-three, and I’d nearly had a coronary when I’d counted them.

She picked up a handful of letters and shuffled through them, scanning a few before placing them back on the bed and squaring off the edges of the pile.

‘Actually, I think it’s pretty cool. That all these people have the guts to write in and ask a . . .’ She hesitated.

‘Weirdo for advice?’ I offered. She smiled a proper smile.

‘A complete stranger for help, is what I was going to say. But yeah, your version works too.’ This time we both laughed, and I felt something between us relax.

‘Yeah, me too. I mean, I went along with it for Pete’s sake at first, but I feel like I’m in pretty deep now.’