Jack smiled. ‘You’re not getting the Michelin star, are you? Because of me? Or, rather, because I’m not here.’

He knew he was right when he saw their expressions. He leaned forward. ‘How stupid do you think I am, Roland? Do you really think I’ll just come back like some kind of obedient servant because you decided you need me after all?’

Roland narrowed his eyes. ‘You ungrateful little shit,’ he said. ‘I trained you. I taught you everything you know. And this is how you thank me? By abandoning us now?’

Fedra put her hand over her father’s. ‘Calm down. He wants something, Daddy. What do you want, Jack?’

He smiled then. ‘I want what I was promised. Full partnership, my name on the restaurant front, and I want to run it – without Fedra looking over my shoulder. And I want a huge bonus when I get you that Michelin star.’

‘That’s outrageous. You were perfectly fine with me running it before,’ Fedra said sharply.

‘Yes, but that was before I knew you would screw me over. Now I know that you can’t be trusted. Either of you,’ Jack said. He pushed the chair away from the table. ‘I’m going home to my dad, and in a couple of days I’m going back to Norway. You have until then to think about it.’

Before either of them managed to react, he was outside, breathing in fresh air. Or as fresh as it could be in the middle of a London heatwave.

He called Ninni.

***

Ninni looked at the phone display and hesitated. She didn’t want to talk to Jack, not now. She was still in shock.

So she ignored the call and put the phone back into her pocket. The ferry docked at the island and she hurried onto land, pulled the hood of her rain jacket down over her face and almost ran up the road towards the house.

Right now, she couldn’t talk to anyone, especially anyone sympathetic. She relaxed when she’d put the houses behind her, relieved that the rain was keeping everyone indoors.

She opened the door and Frikk threw himself at her.

‘Take it easy, you silly dog. I’ve just been gone for a few hours.’

He jumped around her, as he always did when she left him alone. And, as always, he made her feel better.

‘I’m happy to see you’re feeling better,’ she said.

Ninni took off her wet clothes and went into the kitchen.

‘What do you think, Frikk? Think we should have a baby? Would you like that? Someone who would pull your ears and tail, throw up on you and jump on you with a full nappy?’

The dog perked his ears, listening to her voice. Ninni smiled. ‘I bet you would, you goofy doggo.’

She threw him a dog biscuit and made a cup of coffee. With the mug in one hand and a sweet bun in the other, she made herself comfortable on the sofa in the lounge. Frikk jumped up and rested his chin on her leg.