‘You’re the information king,’ I said. ‘I’ve literally never met anyone as obsessed with reading up before, during and after an event as you. Where do you even put all that information?’

Our waiter delivered two toasties to our table, where we’d found our daily café – a place we ended up coming to at least once a day, to the point where the barista knew our order before we even had to say it.

Patrick took a big bite and, with his mouth full, said, ‘To be fair it pretty much goes in one eye and out the other. That’s why I have to reread everything.’

I was glad I hadn’t already taken a bite, because a shooting ‘Ha!’ left my throat in amusement before I could stop it.

‘It’s true!’ he said. ‘I think I might be dyslexic actually, but it hasn’t ever been diagnosed. I don’t know. Not that it matters but yeah, sometimes I do feel like my brain doesn’t work like everyone else’s.’

‘Oh,’ I said, taken aback by his vulnerability. ‘That’s the first time you’ve said anything.’

He kept chewing. ‘You’re so smart, and I’m …’

I held up a hand. ‘Don’t even say it. Don’t you dare.’

‘What! It’s true! You’re a scientist. And use words so long that half the time I think I only just catch the drift of what you mean. All I can say is, it’s a good job your face is so expressive. That helps.’

‘I won’t stand for this,’ I said. ‘If you are dyslexic, it obviously hasn’t held you back. You’ve developed other skills to compensate. You challenge me to think differently. It’s one of the things I …’

Crap. I almost said love. Not that I was in love with Patrick. I was only using it as a turn of phrase.

‘… Enjoy about you most. You’re not like a lot of other people I know. I don’t know if that’s why, or what. But, you’re amazing. Obviously you could stand to better your sense of direction a little more …’

It was his turn to issue a ‘Ha!’

‘Don’t even start, Annie. It was you who got us lost on the way to afternoon tea that day, not me. Don’t even try it. That really will be a Mona Lisa moment.’

‘Hey,’ I said. ‘When you had your Mona Lisa morning, in Margaret River – when you left but then came back?’

‘Yeah,’ he said.

‘What was that?’

He pulled a face. ‘Me being ridiculous.’

‘I was worried I’d annoyed you.’