“Quite happily, it would seem. My father has just turned sixty and has decided to step back from the day-to-day running of the company. I have a sister who lives in Australia. They like to visit her and the grandchildren. They are there right now. It seems that grandchildren are a great attraction, and so far I have not managed to produce any.” He gave a wry little grin. “You have children?”

“One son. Edward, or rather Teddy. He’s six.”

“And who looks after Teddy when you come here?”

“He’s with his father in New York.”

He must have noticed the spasm of pain on her face. “Madonna! But he is safe and well after the terrible tragedy?”

“Thank God yes, but now he’s afraid to fly, apparently. Or at least, that’s what his father says. Or his father says that’s what the psychiatrist says.”

He frowned. “An excuse to keep him?”

“It might seem that way.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “And so you escape to a beautiful place so that you don’t worry too much?”

This suggestion was a little too close to the truth. She fought back the snapped answer but said primly, “I am here out of respect to my great-aunt who just died. The one whose flat I have just inherited. I have brought her ashes.”

He held up a hand. “Sorry. I did not mean to pry.”

“You’re not prying, and of course this whole thing is very raw at the moment. My husband just left me, and now he won’t return my son.” She held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be unloading my troubles on a stranger.”

He was looking at her with what seemed to be real concern. “Not at all. I understand how you feel. Grief and worry. They can eat away at a person.”

“Yes,” she said.

“I was married, too,” he blurted out. “She was killed one month after the wedding. In a car crash.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“So am I.” He sighed. “She had drunk too much. I should not have let her drive. Now I live with that.”

“You can’t be responsible for another person.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“No.”

His gaze held hers, and for a moment Caroline was conscious of the connection between them. It almost felt that this handsome stranger was reading her thoughts. Embarrassed, she looked down and toyed with her napkin, glad when the man with the moustache appeared with a plate containing some dubious and unidentifiable bits and pieces. She could see the whiskers of a prawn head poking out of batter, and the tiny tentacles of a squid. It looked quite alarming, and Caroline took a tentative bite. The flesh of the squid was light and tender inside the crispy batter.

She looked up and nodded. “It’s good.”

“You have never tried it before?”

“I’ve tried calamari, but not like this.”