‘So, are you at college too, Mei Lin?’ she ventured brightly, dropping into a chair with her mug and picking up the birthday envelope. ‘Hanging on for the dreaded A level results, like Dylan – under three weeks and counting…’

‘Mum…’ Dylan rolled his eyes.

‘I’m only asking.’

‘Actually, I don’t go to college. I am an artist.’ Mei Lin pushed aside her barely touched cornflakes and reached for the one banana sitting inside Esther’s small fruit bowl.

‘An artist? How wonderful,’ Esther cried, unable to suppress a wish that the banana had been asked for. ‘What sort, exactly?’

‘I work mainly with space and shadows.’ Mei Lin peeled back the panels of mottled yellow skin, taking one small, dainty bite and then setting the banana down, for good it looked like. ‘Charcoal, sketching, photographs – I am interested in the reflections of us that we don’t even know are there and over which we have no control.’

‘Wow.’ The girl’s confidence was jaw-dropping, and admirable, but it caused Esther a pang or two of protective affection for Dylan, squirming beside this powerhouse, looking half-goofy and half-proud. ‘That sounds fascinating, Mei Lin. Maybe I can get to see some of your work one day.’

‘Oh sure, you’d be most welcome, Mrs Shaw.’

Esther returned her attention to the envelope. ‘Now, what do we have here?’

‘You’ll never guess,’ Dylan declared gleefully. ‘And by the way, has Italy come through yet?’ he scoffed, in the affectionately competitive tone he reserved for his uber-capable and conscientious sister.

‘Yes, a lovely spa thing… but look at this…’ Esther went on hastily, not wanting to take the spotlight from whatever was about to be unveiled, and then hooting with laughter as she pulled out a home-made card featuring a photo-shopped picture of herself as Wonder Woman.

‘You might just need super-powers for the present, is the idea,’ Dylan explained, as Esther unfolded the A4 piece of paper inside the card: an invitation to choose from a list of thrill-seeking experiences, not one of which – she could see at a heart-sinking glance – she would ever volunteer to undertake, except perhaps to save one of her children.

‘You’ll do the bungee jump, I’m guessing,’ Dylan yelped, clearly deeply entertained by the wild improbability of his gift. ‘You’ve got a whole twelve months to decide, and actually, not all of them are that scary.’

‘Dylan, it’s a brilliant present. Inspired. But no, I don’t think I shall be hurling myself into a ravine on the end of an elastic rope.’

‘There isn’t a ravine, actually.’ He pushed his own empty bowl aside and reached for the abandoned banana, demolishing it in three big bites. ‘Apparently, it’s just a place off the M4 with a big crane. A friend of Mei’s did it.’ He nudged his companion, busy now on her phone. ‘Right, Mei?’