‘You have. Violinists and gift-senders. Sorry, Es.’ She smiled apologetically. ‘It’s only because I know how lonely you get, sweetie, not to mention how life-enhancing the right partner in life can be, how supportive…’ She stopped, clearly not wanting to brag about Brian. They had arrived at the little clifftop car park where the taxi that had brought them was to pick them up. There was a perimeter wall facing the valley. Viv leant against it, twiddling her Magnum stick and still looking pensive. ‘But maybe it’s time to throw a bit more money at the cause? There are some good sites, but they cost.’

‘Not a lot of money to throw at anything at the moment, Vivvie, but thank you for caring. I’ll think about it, okay?’ Esther managed to catch the last blob of her own ice cream, inwardly still bristling, partly because of the earlier comment about Lucas, and partly because of the increasingly unwelcome sense that she was being told what to do. She couldn’t work out whether Viv was being particularly pushy or whether it was just her being touchy and defensive. ‘And anyway, I really do feel supported,’ she quipped, thinking of the recent interactions with her neighbours. There had been a warm text from Sue that morning, telling her to have a happy holiday and reporting that, while there was no sign of the cat, Carmela was apparently holding her own in hospital.

‘Ah, yes, Sue and Dimitri,’ said Viv, with her customary quickness, ‘they do sound special.’

‘They are. And so are you – inviting me here. All of this.’ Esther gestured at the sloping fields of maize and sunflowers, shimmering in the late morning sun, and the Pyrenees, a ghostly, snow-capped necklace on the horizon beyond. ‘Letting me gate-crash your gorgeous family holiday. You lot sort of make me jealous, actually, but in a good way.’

‘Jealousy is never good,’ Viv murmured, getting up and waving at the taxi that had swung into the square. ‘And by the way, on the dating business, be wary of quick judgements. I thought Brian was the opposite of what I wanted until we kissed, remember? One snog and I was a goner.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind.’ Esther laughed as they clambered into the taxi.

They travelled in a companionable silence back down the narrow, zigzagging roads, the faint smell of the sea rising from Viv’s basket.

14