‘Nothing to worry about here. The office computers were being given some reboot or another so we all got packed off home to work remotely, which was nice. I’m just, you know, winding down.’ It occurred to me that if this were a call with Molly or Lily or … they would already have apologised and offered to call back. ‘How’s your day been?’

‘Good, yeah, good.’ He took an audible swallow. ‘I can’t believe you’re in the bath.’

‘Well, you’ve seen me naked, Row. Are you – I mean, is it weird? Should I call back …’

‘No, no, I called you.’ He rubbed at the back of his neck. ‘Are you missing me terribly?’

‘More than I can say. How about you?’

He huffed. ‘Of course. All I’ve done is talk, talk, talk about you to Dad.’

Not your mum, though. ‘That’s really sweet.’

‘I told him all about the first venue that we saw, the one that—’

‘Was way too expensive? Tilbury Manor?’

He laughed. ‘I was going to say the one with the moat but sure, we can use your words.’

‘I bet he bloody loves the idea of a moat.’

‘Please …’ Rowan glanced off-screen somewhere. ‘He’s lord of the manor anywhere.’

‘Oh boy, that bad?’ I pulled bubbles closer, to protect what little modesty was left.

‘Eh, yes and no. He’s walked me down memory lane a lot, about when we were kids, how I always said I’d marry you.’ Even through the medium of screens I could see that Rowan looked soft, loved up. He was giving me the sort of look he used to give me on a date night. ‘We’ve spent our whole lives together, Edi. Isn’t that mad?’

‘Like, mad in a good way or …’

He made a noise that I thought was a laugh. But it didn’t sound right. ‘Yes, in a good way. It was when I was talking to Dad, that’s all, it just occurred to me how mad it is that we’ve only ever known each other. It’s special, isn’t it? Not many people can say they’ve got something like that. Something that – I don’t know, something that survives.’

Like a muscle spasm, the memory came to me: the night he told me. I tried to brush the thoughts away with a fake smile and a shrug. ‘I don’t know, look at me and the girls.’

He huffed. ‘I like to think we’re a little different to what you’ve got with the girls.’

Different is probably just the word, I thought but didn’t say. ‘You know what I mean.’