I looked at Patrick. ‘Sometimes stuff just does work out,’ I said, and everyone made a good-natured gagging sound before we headed out.

He drove us east, out of London until we hit the coast. We played the music we’d come to think of as ‘ours’ – all the songs that had a memory or reminded us of being fourteen, or travelling together, or what had played on the radio this past few months as we cooked eggs and ate them in my new bed, commenting, like we did, on what the sky was doing that particular day.

‘I think I’ll be able to take the leap soon,’ I told him, as the traffic eased and the roads got quieter and the playlist we’d compiled finished playing. ‘I think I really am going to do it.’

He reached out a hand to my thigh. It wasn’t my knee, like a friend, but high up, a place only he was able to touch.

‘I think that’s a great plan,’ he replied. ‘And one day, you’ll have your own practice, and a plaque on the door, and everything.’

I laughed. ‘One step at a time,’ I insisted. ‘I don’t plan that far in advance anymore, remember?’

He nodded, as if to say he wasn’t going to argue, but also that he was going to order that plaque – just in case.

He said, ‘I nearly didn’t say hello that morning at bootcamp. Did I ever tell you that?’

We pulled up into an almost deserted car park, and Carol started whimpering in the back, instinctively understanding that we’d arrived, and the glorious freedom of a beach would soon be hers. We let her out and followed her towards the shore.

‘Really?’ I asked. ‘Because I just can’t conceive of a world where that’s true.’

‘Ha! Is that so?’

I shrugged coquettishly, pleased that we could still flirt this way. He didn’t have my hand, but his arm, carrying our bag with a beach mat and supplies, was no more than six inches from me.

‘I’m glad I did.’

I sneaked a glance at him and couldn’t resist following up by giving him a kiss.

‘What was that for?’

We lingered, nose to nose, satisfied and full.

‘Just because,’ I said, and what I meant was, because I love you.

Once we walked the length of the coastline enough for Carol to relish paddling in the water, roll over in the sand, and slowly start to calm down, we settled in a spot to eat the lunch he’d packed.

‘I’ve got news too,’ he said, halfway through a sausage roll.

‘Oh?’ I replied.

‘I’ve put myself forward for a promotion.’

‘That’s amazing!’ I gasped. ‘I didn’t even know you were thinking of doing that!’

‘What can I say? You inspire me.’