She quickly messaged Chris about having to shift their Tuesday dinner, and then delved into the bag of tinned cat food Marcus had delivered the morning after Carmela’s death, Sue having kindly passed on the news about finding the cat. With Dimitri and Sue already there, and all of them keen to offer their commiserations, Esther had invited him to stay for coffee, but he had rushed off, looking understandably distracted and promising to be in touch again soon about a new home for his aunt’s pet.

‘Which is why I am spoiling you, with rabbit deluxe,’ Esther told Chico as he purred round her legs. She had just finished dolloping the contents into a fresh saucer when her phone lit up with a call from Chris.

‘Sorry to muck you around,’ Esther said at once, ‘but hopefully we can—’

‘Playing hard to get, is it?’

‘Not at all.’ Esther laughed uncertainly, dropping into a chair, one eye on the cat. ‘It turns out I need to be with my daughter that night, but let’s arrange another date now.’ She reached for Viv’s diary journal, flicking past a list begun for the spa day, which hadn’t progressed beyond ‘swimming costume’.

‘Ah, I see. Righty ho. I shall try not to mind, in that case. And talking of your daughter, how was today’s girls’ treat, then?’ He laughed, as if he had cracked a great joke.

‘It was very nice, thanks.’ Esther found she was speaking more and more quietly.

‘Did you have treatments?’

‘Oh yes, a manicure, and also a massage which was —’

‘Ah, so you’re rubbed and oiled all over, like the slippery fish you are…’

Esther held the phone at arm’s length, giving it a stare of despairing disbelief. When she put it back to her ear Chris was still talking, his voice softer and looser, chuntering almost to himself, by the sound of it. ‘Maybe your masseur was a young girl – a masseuse – with small firm hands and…’ hearing his breathing thicken, Esther was tempted to laugh ‘…and maybe she rubbed all those parts of you that others have not been allowed to reach. Parts I very much want to reach… parts I like to think about… like right now, Esther… and I mean, right now… Christ, talk about keeping a guy waiting, but I tell you what, my gorgeous, things waited for taste all the fucking sweeter. And when I say taste, I mean taste…’

‘Hey, Chris… I’m really not…’

‘Not what?’

‘Not in the mood… for this… I mean…’ Esther stuttered. Just hang up, she told herself, just hang up.

‘Oh, I get it.’ He laughed again. ‘The lady is going to hold out on me, is she? The knight is going to have to put away his charger and his lance and—’