‘Right. I want you to taste each one and then mark it out of five. On the sheets you’ll see that there are five categories. Consistency. Depth of flavour. Colour. Smell. And how much you like it. This is bowl A and this is bowl B. I would suggest you taste both, then, before you mark them, taste them again. Off you go.’

They all crowded forward. Hannah didn’t feel so confident about this task. What if she got it wrong? She reached for a teaspoon, keeping her eyes down, conscious of Conor in his Killorgally polo shirt and black jeans.

Even in colour, the two sauces looked very different. In fact, if she hadn’t known they were supposed to be the same thing, she might not have realised. Gingerly, she dipped a teaspoon in the paler, thinner sauce and tasted it, watching as Fliss closed her eyes, her nose pointing up in the air slightly. Hannah wanted to laugh at what she imagined was a wine-snob pose, but concentrated instead on the flavour of the sauce. Sweet, zingy, and quite pleasant. She’d only had eggs Benedict a couple of times, but it tasted familiar. She took a second taste, closing her eyes to concentrate, licking her lips to get one last taste. When she opened them, she found Conor watching her. Clumsily, she grabbed a second spoon, to move onto the second dish, Sauce B. This time she focused on the sauce, ignoring her awareness of Conor. This was a little more golden with a creamy thickness and… oh my goodness, the taste! It was like a firework going off on her tongue and her eyes widened as she savoured the delicious flavours. She could taste the cayenne, the lemon, and it just felt so much nicer on her tongue, if that were a real thing. Inadvertently she turned to Conor, remembering him talking her through that first taste of whiskey. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘What a difference.’

‘Thoughts?’ Adrienne’s expression held a touch of smugness, as she turned to Jason. ‘What do you think?’

He gave her a cheerful grin. ‘Sauce B.’

‘And why is that?’ she pressed.

‘Mouthfeel, flavour, colour and, it’s blo— delicious.’

She raised an imperious eyebrow but didn’t comment on his near slip of the tongue. ‘Hannah?’

Hannah started and stared for a second. ‘Er… yes. Definitely B.’ She could almost see the I-rest-my-case gleam in Adrienne’s eyes.

‘And why?’

‘It just…’ Oh God, everyone was looking at her. She hated not knowing the right answer.

‘How does it make you feel?’

Adrienne wasn’t going to let her off the hook, was she?

‘It’s…’ There was as strong temptation to look at her feet. ‘It’s…’ She caught Conor’s eye again. As if he’d read her mind, he gave her a tiny encouraging smile. ‘It’s like a firework going on your tongue compared to a damp squib,’ she said in a rush.