“She was sitting at the edge of a duck pond with her feet dangling in the water. Her dress was scrunched up around her thighs. One of my colleagues was most perturbed about the tone she was setting and asked me to speak to her. I carried my glass over and asked what she was doing. She looked up at me with those gray eyes of hers and said, ‘My feet are hot and the water’s cool.’” Ted laughed.

That’s so very Essie, Liv thought.

“I wasn’t impressed by her attitude and I went to find a towel. When I returned to pass it to her, she reached out and pulled on my shoelace, untying the bow. I was furious and about to give her a piece of my mind, but she lifted my foot and took off my shoe. I was so astonished, I just let it happen.

“She was much younger than me, twenty years and more. I had three daughters at university, and my wife and I were on the verge of divorce.” He smiled and shook his head, as if reliving the surprising experience. “There are few moments in life when the earth seems to stop spinning, and you have a split second to decide to walk away or take a leap into the unknown. I’m usually a man of strategy and routine. I polish my shoes each night and have dedicated suits for each day of the week. Yet there was something about Essie that made me take off my other shoe, too. I tossed my socks onto the lawn, hitched up my trouser legs and sat down beside her. We sipped champagne from the same glass and Essie told me I should publish her next book.”

Liv smiled to herself at this bold, playful version of Essie. Where had it disappeared to?

She couldn’t help feeling envious, too. When she was a similar age, she had been busy washing baby sick out of her hair. Mack had a habit of projectile vomiting if he drank too much milk. If she ever received an invitation to a party, it was at a soft play center with lukewarm sandwiches made with ham so thin you could see through it.

“Didn’t she already have a publisher?” she said.

“Yes, but the success of The Moon on the Water was far greater than originally expected. Essie was like a piece of sea glass on the beach among all the gray pebbles. She just needed a little polish to shine like a jewel. Soon after the party, and to my great surprise and delight, we became a couple. I advised her on how to fit into the literary world better, and introduced her to people who could help her career.”

“And you also decided to get married?”