‘I didn’t get a chance as we were only getting one word in every three at this end,’ I admit.

‘Come on, Fern. You can get up and join in. And you, Nico,’ Hannah shouts across at us.

I look at Nico and he looks at me, then shrugs.

‘Okay. If you will, I will. But dancing isn’t my thing,’ he warns.

Before I really have a chance to think about it, Nico pulls me up and off we go. Even Margot eventually joins us, flinging her arms in gay abandonment over her head. It’s wonderful to see her enjoying herself, although I’m pretty sure the wine has something to do with it.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Owen dancing and it’s wonderful, because he’s lost that self-consciousness that sometimes held him back. As he dances with Dee-Dee, who is twice his age, he has the biggest smile on his face. They’re shouting at each other over the loud music, chatting away like old friends.

Feigning the need to sit down to catch my breath after several dances in a row, I’m delighted to look up and see Liam approaching. His excuse is that he needs some water, but when he sinks down next to me, he places the untouched glass in front of him.

‘Hey, Liam. I don’t think I’ve had so much fun in a long time. My stomach hurts with laughter.’

Nico is now teaching Margot, so it appears, the rudiments of flamenco dancing. He strikes a good pose and Margot is tiptoeing around him, pretending to have castanets in her hands. It’s hilarious.

‘We needed to come and visit,’ Liam says, quite seriously. ‘They were all concerned you were pining. I told them that although I’ve only met you twice, you’d find something worthwhile to do because that’s in your nature.’

I turn to look at Liam and I can see that he’s a thinker. I didn’t get that from my first impression of him, maybe because he was nervous. It was a strange time, anyway, for the whole family.

‘I will look after Hannah, you know. I appreciate you probably feel it’s too much, too soon. But I’m miserable whenever I’m not with her, although I know that sounds crazy.’

His words transport me back to those early days after I first met Aiden. It hurt not to be with him, too. Even when I knew we were going to see each other that same evening, getting through the day was my sole focus, because all that mattered was when we would next be together.

‘No. It doesn’t, Liam. It’s something you can only understand if you’ve felt that way yourself.’