‘You can level with me, you know. I won’t hold it against you. If you are still not okay, we can talk about it.’

They circled back around the lane where the pub sat in the distance, and Penny kept her gaze on it as she talked.

‘A baby. I’m going to do it. Clementine is having the tests this week to see if she’s okay to be surrogate and presuming she is … well. We’re going to go for it. Everything is lined up.’

‘Oh, babe,’ Sharon smiled. ‘Come here!’ She stopped walking and pulled Penny in for a hug. ‘This is amazing news. Oh, I am so, so happy for you. Over the moon! After everything you’ve been through – this year, your whole life – I think this is brilliant. You’ve talked about it for so long.’

Penny grinned. ‘Thank you,’ she replied. ‘Even Uncle David has accepted it, you know. I think he feels a bit guilty that he pulled me away from what I really wanted because he was worried for me. But he gets it, now – I don’t want to take over the food world. I just want to be a mum.’

‘And dare I ask about Francesco?’

‘Still nothing. I WhatsApped him a few times, but got no response. I didn’t know I’d hurt him that much, you know. I guess I thought he was having a tantrum that wouldn’t last.’

‘And he’s in Italy?’

‘Last I heard, yes. So, I guess that’s what they call closure.’

The pair used the front entrance to get into the pub, even though, when closed, Penny normally consigned herself to the back entrance. As she pushed through the old front door, Charlie flung open the second door that led through to the top bar.

‘O-M-G,’ they said. ‘Bib Gourmand.’

‘What about it?’ said Penny, before adding, ‘Sharon, Charlie. Charlie, Sharon.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ Sharon said. ‘Penny says you’ve been a lifesaver here.’

Charlie thrust an envelope into Penny’s face. ‘A lifesaver,’ they said, ‘and deliverer of good news. Look! Look at the envelope.’

They all stepped through into the bar proper, and Penny saw the Michelin guide logo stamped onto the envelope, next to a postmark.

‘Shit,’ she said.

‘Good shit, or bad shit?’ Sharon said.

‘Amazing shit,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s about the award we’ve been chasing.’

Penny held the envelope in front of her, staring at the logo.

‘It’s not going to be bad news, is it?’ Charlie said, reading her mind. ‘They aren’t going to write if they’ve been and hated it.’

Penny nodded. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Sure. Of course.’ She turned the envelope over and started to tear it open. She was shaking slightly, and it made Sharon reach out and put a hand on her shoulder.