But today she had no appetite. She was getting seriously worried about Colin. She had assumed that if he wasn’t at home, he would just have moved in to his club to have white-coated servants do all the servicing she usually did.

She decided to check once more with Wendy.

‘Hello, irresponsible mother and granny,’ Wendy greeted her with a laugh in her voice.

Penny felt a weight lifted off her chest at the sound of her daughter’s usual calm briskness. She was delighted to her core to have produced such a capable woman who took life so easily.

‘Still looking for Dad? I’ll go round and have a look for any clues. Maybe he was looking at easyJet. The golf courses in the Algarve are very nice at this time of year, I hear.’

‘Yes,’ Penny nodded. ‘I suppose he could have done that.’

‘It’d be just like him, you mean. I’ll go round and see what I can find.’

‘I love you, Wendy.’

‘And I love you too. Enjoy yourself, for God’s sake! You’re on a beautiful sunny Mediterranean island and it’s pouring with bloody rain here!’

She and Nell enjoyed a slice or two of Cassandra’s wonderful cake (obligatory, or she gave you a filthy look) and a nice strong coffee before heading out to the boathouses.

‘We have to be grateful to your Willow for getting us these bookings, and apparently loads more coming through, but she’s really fluttered the dovecotes with her blog about the statue. Have you seen Dora’s rota? We all have to watch out for Xan Georgiades leaving the building.’

‘What, and follow him?’ They made their way towards to the supermarket to pick up some soap and toilet paper.

‘I suppose so,’ Nell replied. ‘Everyone’s really excited about the bookings. And Demetria’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s getting people all over the island to do up their empty buildings. All Willow needs to do is keep getting the customers.’

Penny put a giant pack of loo rolls into her trolley. ‘Do thank her, won’t you? I’d been feeling guilty that we’d got people’s hopes up on the island and weren’t delivering, and now we are!’

‘I will, I promise,’ Nell agreed. ‘You know one thing?’

‘What’s that?’

‘We all thought this holiday was a disaster and that none of us had a thing in common any more. It’s Kyri that’s brought us all together.’

Penny smiled. ‘Yes, it has. And do you know, I really needed that, a purpose. I was actually a lot lonelier than I’d admitted, even to myself.’

She stopped her trolley, struck by the thought she’d been so lonely even though she was married. Impulsively she put her arms round Nell and hugged her, ignoring the raised eyebrows of the Greek shoppers.

‘I’m so glad we came, aren’t you?’