As if on cue, Daniel raced into the room and skidded to a stop in front of us, his pale skin flushed.

‘Have you seen the TV?’ he said in an awestruck voice. ‘It’s massive.’

Rowan gave him a wide smile.

‘There’s a gym, a games room, a sauna and pool too.’

‘Mum, can I borrow the camcorder later to make a house video?’

‘Yes, but ask your dad first.’

‘Cool. I’m going to find the pool!’ he shouted, haring off again.

‘Be careful,’ I said to his retreating back.

Rowan opened the French windows and led the way out onto a wide stone balcony. There was a long table and twelve chairs, all shaded by sun umbrellas, a view over a large vineyard on a hill sloping gently away from us. Fields and woods and low, rolling hills stretched out beyond.

‘People have lived here since the first century,’ Rowan said. ‘There was a Roman villa on this site originally, then a medieval chateau which fell into disrepair, and now this. It’s west-facing so you get the most amazing sunsets.’

I stood on the balcony, drinking in the French landscape. A rainbow of greens dotted with light-brown terracotta roofs, villas and farmhouses spaced far apart, vineyards and olive groves, wheat fields lined with fruit trees. I felt a little ache inside, a feeling of how the other half lives: we could never normally afford to stay in a place like this. Not even close.

‘It’s absolutely breathtaking, Rowan. Thank you so much for arranging it and having us all here – I dread to think how much it would cost for a week.’

She squeezed my arm and followed my gaze across the perfect scene.

‘Probably about twenty thousand in high season,’ she said. ‘But they don’t hire it out to the public – it’s just used for corporate events, jollies, schmoozing. You know the kind of thing.’

I nodded, but in truth I didn’t know: ‘jollies’ and ‘schmoozing’ didn’t really ever come into my working life, and standing there with Rowan, the reality of how far apart our worlds had grown stung a little. I loved my job; I’d been a crime scene investigator with the Metropolitan Police for thirteen years now, but maybe I only noticed everyone else changing because I felt rooted to the same spot – same job, same house, same path – as I had been for years. Maybe it was all about perspective.

Or maybe it was all about Sean.