I frown. This is serious, and I have no idea what Kellie is going to say; I can only pray it isn’t bad news. I’m pretty sure her relationship with Taylor is still only platonic. Unless I’m misreading the signs.

I nod, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair, and follow her to the door of the day room.

‘Problems?’ I enquire. Casually enough, I hope, not to hint at my concern.

‘Yes. No. Not really.’

‘Well,’ I smile at her, ‘that seems to cover just about anything and everything in between.’

She laughs. ‘Okay. I need a favour and I also want to share something that I was asked in confidence, which is a little awkward. Oh, and to thank you. I’m not sure what order in which to tackle it all, though.’

As we leave the courtyard behind, the grass crunches satisfyingly crisply underfoot. Provence is beautiful in all of the seasons, of course. But on a day like this, being outside is a reminder of how sheltered we are here, nestled at the foot of the huge mountains in the distance.

‘In your own time, Kellie,’ I reassure her, adjusting my bobble hat.

She begins to giggle.

‘What?’ I ask, as she straightens her own.

‘Dee-Dee is wonderful, truly wonderful, but these hand-knitted hats make us both look like pixies.’

I turn to look at her and suddenly we start belly-laughing. It’s not the style, so much as the fact that Dee-Dee used up the oddments, as she calls them. So, the hats are rainbow-coloured, if rainbows ever had forty different colours to them. The pom-pom on mine is pale blue and on Kellie’s it’s purple.

‘Who cares?’ I shrug, and Kellie takes the words out of my mouth.

‘It’s the thought that counts!’ She pauses for a brief moment, before picking back up. ‘Okay. The favour is quite a biggie. I’ve told my father I don’t want to go back. Not forever, but for the foreseeable future. I need you to approach Nico about that in case it doesn’t fit in with his plans. I don’t want to do it myself as he might feel awkward about it if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea.’

I draw to a halt and Kellie does the same, but the air is damp with the intensity of the cold, and you can feel it in your bones.

‘Come on, let’s shelter beneath one of the barns.’ We speed up our pace. ‘Here, help me move this bench out a little and we can sit for a moment against the wall.’

With only three sides to the barn, it’s still cold, but there’s protection from the elements.