Dad and I sat opposite one another, in the booth I always tried to nab because it had the best view of the sea. Now Dad was quiet and neither of us said anything as we stared out at the view while Sophie prepared our drinks. The sun shone, the sea sparkled and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. To all intents and purposes, it looked like the beginning of the perfect day, but I had the feeling that it was going to turn out to be anything but.

‘I have things to do in the kitchen,’ said Sophie, as she carried over our drinks, spilling a little of mine as she served it, ‘but call me if you need anything.’

‘I can’t be long,’ I told Dad as he slowly stirred milk into his cup. ‘I’m expecting a parcel and I have to be there to sign for it.’

‘Of course,’ he nodded, carefully putting down the spoon. ‘I don’t want to interfere in your plans.’

‘Then why are you here?’ I asked.

Surely, he must have realized that his unexpected arrival was going to interfere with my schedule, because he wasn’t a part of it. Had he been just a couple of hours later, I would have ticked the first thing off the plan for the day and been miles away.

‘The week you left,’ he finally began, ‘all I wanted was to track you down and make you come back.’

‘But Joan said I deserved a break,’ I cut in, trying to hurry him along. ‘You told me that when I called. You told me that she had said I was entitled to some time off.’

Dad nodded.

‘That’s correct,’ he agreed, ‘and having looked over your work records, I couldn’t deny that she was right.’

‘Crikey,’ I blurted out, sounding more sarcastic than I meant to.

‘In fact, Joan has told me quite a few home truths recently,’ Dad added, with a wry smile.

‘And you’ve listened?’ I asked, wondering how on earth she’d managed to pull that off.

Usually Dad would have given the impression that he was listening, he was the master of it, but then he would have carried on with whatever it was that he’d set his heart on anyway.

‘Believe it or not,’ he said, clearly in tune with the wave-length my thoughts were travelling along, ‘I have. As it turns out, she’s a very wise woman, my housekeeper. She makes a lot of sense.’

‘I could have told you that years ago,’ I said bluntly, ‘not that you would have listened. However,’ I charitably added, ‘I’m pleased that you’ve finally sussed it out for yourself.’

‘It’s quite something, coming from your old dad, who thinks he always knows best, isn’t it?’ Dad smiled.