We both craned to find the source of the question. There was an older man perched on a barstool behind Rowan. He was wearing a thick jacket and a flat cap, as though he were ready to up and leave the pub at any second, and his cheeks had that rosy blush that comes from endless hours of outdoor work. The question was slurred, though; the words sounded lazy as they left him.

‘You two are engaged?’

It was Rowan’s turn to bounce on his heels. ‘You heard that right, sir.’

‘Jesus.’ From his tone it was clear he didn’t exactly share our delight. ‘You can’t have known each other five minutes.’

‘Actually,’ Rowan started, ‘we’ve known each other since we were fresh out of school. Not secondary school either but …’ This was one of his favourite stories to tell, even though the older we got, the more tweaks he made to it. ‘… And then I saved her from the playground bully, essentially.’ I shook my head and he noticed. ‘Even though you would have definitely hit Owen on your own one day.’

‘Even though you definitely didn’t hit him, you mean.’ I stretched up to kiss his forehead. ‘Nothing cool about violence, babe, not even made-up violence.’

‘So you’ve been together since you were knee-high?’ The words knocked into each other in the same way as before. The man leaned forward slightly and then in a jerked motion he snapped back. I recognised the gesture from the boys I’d avoided at university; he was a drink away from tipping off his seat. ‘Like, since you were wee?’ he added.

‘You heard right.’ Rowan tried to sound breezy, but I knew he was forcing it. He’d always had a terrible poker face. ‘Couldn’t let this one get away.’

‘No.’ The man didn’t sound convinced. He narrowed his eyes like he was physically inspecting something. That, or trying to work out the maths of an especially tricky equation. He laughed and the noise was a horrible one: outdoor work mixed with too much alcohol mixed with … Does he smell like smoke even from here? ‘I can’t get my head around kids so young trying to be so grown up.’

‘Well,’ I took over, ‘when you know you know.’ I physically turned Rowan back to face me and positioned myself so I didn’t knock eyes with the man still sitting behind. ‘Leave it?’

‘He’s being friendly.’

‘No, Rowan, I don’t think he is.’

He shook his head. ‘Okay. So, future wife—’

‘Edi is fine.’ I play-punched him. ‘But you can have future wife for tonight.’

‘How do you want to tell people? Update our social media and call it a day?’ He took a sip of his drink and it felt timed for dramatic effect. ‘Or we tell our families privately and then invite friends out one evening for drinks and tell them all in a massive group.’