I sigh. ‘I guessed she still hasn’t forgiven me for heading off to France. And she’s not so little now, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s time to start treating her with a tad more respect,’ I add, sternly.

‘Well, she’s still a bit up in the air about it all as she’ll miss Aiden, too, but she’ll always be a royal pain in my book. Youngest kids always are,’ he adds, rather unfairly. I’m sure that isn’t true in every case, although he might actually have a point when it comes to Hannah. ‘She’ll come around,’ he continues, ‘but I wanted to reassure you that she’s fine. I know what you’re like, too.’

It’s ironic that my tough, action-man brother is the empathetic one and my little sister can only handle emotional issues by refusing to dwell on them.

‘That’s thoughtful, Owen. And appreciated. I guess one of the lessons I’m going to learn on my gap year is that it’s time for me to step back and be less involved. But you do know that I’m here whenever you need me, don’t you?’

I don’t want to labour this because I hope he never needs me, well, not for an emergency. I want – no, I need – to believe that he can handle this new career he’s chosen and that he’ll be both sensible and safe. He’s always had a positive attitude, but the army is now backing that up with the physical stamina to endure anything.

‘There you go, worrying already and you’ve only been gone a couple of days. Look, I have to go, there’s a bunch of mates hovering and I’m holding them up.’ There’s loud jeering in the background and he stops to call out, ‘All right! I’m done!’

‘Go on, don’t let me stop you. Text or call me when you’re back from Salisbury. And thanks, Owen. Great advice, by the way. Love you and take care.’

‘Will do. Bye, Fern.’

Click.

Suddenly the air around me feels lighter and brighter. My younger sister might not be talking to me properly still, but it sounds like she’s happy. And my brother, well, he’s always been my biggest supporter. One day, hopefully, he’ll find a woman who is worthy of him but in the meantime at least he has a good head on his shoulders. I keep forgetting that Hannah has now turned nineteen, so she’s only a year older than Kellie.