When his phone vibrated, Lucas swooped on it with relief. ‘Lily!’ She was clearly calling from her and Matteo’s kitchen, perched on the little stool they kept parked by the back door. Her shining blue eyes, lighter and bigger than Esther’s, seemed to fill the screen.

‘Hey, Dad, how’s it going?’

‘Not too bad. Has Dylan been in touch again?’

‘Nope. Has anything arrived for you?’

‘Not yet.’ Lucas found he had to force a smile. To be left out shouldn’t matter. ‘I don’t need a postcard,’ he went on quickly. ‘I just want him to come to his senses and get himself home.’

‘Same here… er… look, Dad, I’m sorry but I won’t be able to make our lunch tomorrow.’

Lucas dug inside himself to smile again. When had life got so damned hard? he wondered as another wave of hopelessness washed through him, arriving from nowhere as they all seemed to; tides with their own rhythms. ‘Oh, that’s a shame, but… never mind. Next time, eh?’ Back in the day, during her early undergrad phase, they had lunched every week, at a veggie place Lily liked. Such easy, happy times, they seemed now, for all the difficulties behind the scenes.

‘Cool, Dad, thanks. Sorry – a lot on – and yeah, we’ll fix something soon.’ Lily leant closer to the screen suddenly, squinting. ‘Are you in bed or something? You look sort of… are you okay, Dad?’

‘Yes. I’m super-fine, I…’ Lucas broke off, aware he had used one of Heidi’s superlatives. ‘Just putting my feet up a bit. Literally.’ He waggled his phone to show his foot resting on the spindly table. ‘I managed to tweak a muscle this morning and I’m icing it. Nothing serious. Just bloody annoying. I was going to drive Heidi to the airport tomorrow – she’s off on a visit home – but I’m not sure I shall manage it.’

‘Poor you.’

‘Oh, it’s nothing.’ Lily’s eyes were darting upwards, to a message from another quarter, Lucas guessed. ‘I’ll let you go, sweetheart, but could I just ask… I mean, did Dylan mind about the whole Heidi thing? Do you?’

Lily’s gaze froze for an instant, her saucer eyes growing wider still. ‘No, Dad, we are both cool with it.’

‘Because we talked it through over brunch that day, didn’t we?’ Lucas continued doggedly. ‘We talked it through and you both were fine.’

‘Yes, Dad, we talked it through and it’s fine. All we want is…’ she paused, releasing the rest of the sentence on a rush of air ‘…is for you – and Mum – to be happy.’

‘And you are sure your brother would echo those sentiments?’ Lucas knew he was pressing Lily too hard, and probably unfairly, but he couldn’t shake the new suspicion that had taken root in his mind. Was Dylan punishing him? Was it that simple?