‘We need a holiday,’ she told him without much conviction. But it was true that she’d been thinking about it recently. One evening, Valentina had rung while Corinne and Beth were out, and Abi ended up chatting to the other woman for almost an hour. And what a conversation it had been – so cordial and relaxed – a far cry from the stilted awkwardness of that first phone call barely a week beforehand.

‘You must come to us in the summer,’ Valentina said towards the end of their exchanges. ‘It is beautiful here – you will love it.’

Mark drained the last of his beer and then held up the empty bottle. ‘Yes, we need a holiday. But right now I need another beer. Do you want one?’

‘Sure.’

While he was in the kitchen, she leaned forward and looked at the spill of matches on the tray, her eyes tracing over the contours of the structure that had grown since the last time she was in this room.

Mark returned and handed her a beer, and she said:

‘What’s it going to be when it’s finished?’

‘Notre Dame cathedral.’

‘Was that Corinne’s idea?’

‘Not really.’

‘But she has been helping you with it, right?’

‘A little.’

With the tip of her index finger she circled the rim of her glass.

‘She seems to like spending time in here,’ she commented softly.

‘What are you saying, Abi?’

‘Do you think maybe she has a little crush?’

He coloured and laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Why not? She’s a teenage girl. They have been known to get crushes on older men.’

‘Come on! She’s bored, that’s all.’

‘That’s what worries me. You shouldn’t encourage it, Mark.’

‘For God’s sake, Abi,’ he said, grinning, as if what she was suggesting was ludicrous. But beneath it she could sense something else – embarrassment perhaps. Or guilt?

‘You would tell me, wouldn’t you? If there was something there – something I should worry about.’

‘Of course I’d tell you. But I really don’t think you need to worry. And besides, she’s leaving soon.’

He must have seen the doubt that lingered on her face, because he softened now and reached for her. She felt his arms go around her, leaned into his chest. ‘There’s only you,’ he whispered, and she tightened her grasp, needing the warmth of that connection between them, wanting to stay there, to hold on to that feeling of safety.

There was a knock on the door, and they pulled apart quickly.

‘We’re going out,’ Beth informed them, Corinne standing in the hall behind her.