‘Apparently this is the effect that Indie has when she’s in one of her moods.’

‘Oh dear, I’d better go and find Angie,’ Sophie said, leaving her husband to hide out in the kitchen and making her way outside to look for her. She quickly spotted her sitting by the side of the pool, her long, slim legs dangling in the water.

‘I hear World War Three has broken out,’ she said, sitting down next to Angie, but she didn’t reply. ‘Everything okay, Ange?’

‘Yes, fine.’ Angie’s stock response to everything.

‘Was it a row with the boyfriend?’ Sophie asked.

‘Something like that.’

Sophie imagined that Indie’s temper tantrums could be incredibly wearing on her mother and tried to think of something reassuring to say. ‘Don’t take it personally. She’s going through puberty. She’s confused and angry, but she’ll grow out of it.’

Angie stared forlornly at the water. ‘Well she’s ruined the last night of the holiday.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ Sophie said, surprised by Angie’s melancholy. ‘If Indie wants to sulk, that’s her prerogative. But the rest of us are going to have fun. I’ll light the barbecue; you get the wine.’

As she stood up to leave, Angie reached out and grabbed her hand. ‘I adore you, Sophie, you know that, don’t you?’

‘Yes of course,’ Sophie said, smiling down at her. ‘As I adore you.’

‘Was everything okay with you and Jack? While Alan and I were at the supermarket?’

Sophie felt uneasy again. ‘Yes of course, absolutely fine.’

‘What did you do?’

‘We sunbathed, had a swim, nothing special. Why do you ask?’

‘No reason,’ Angie said, turning away. ‘Forget it.’

Sophie went back inside to get the matches, Angie’s words echoing around her head. What was going on? Was Angie really suspicious of her and Jack or was Sophie just reading too much into it? She looked over at Jack, who was in the kitchen marinating some meat, a cocktail on the counter next to him, humming away to himself. He must have sensed her gaze because he looked up and gave her a wink. She smiled back at him, perplexed. She had a strange feeling that she was getting involved in something she hadn’t planned.

‘Want me to fix you a cocktail, Brennan?’ Jack asked her.

‘Of course she does,’ came a voice from behind her, ‘and while you’re at it, one for me too please.’ Angie appeared at Sophie’s side and put an arm around her. ‘Sophie and I are going outside to take our drinks on the patio. You and Alan are in charge of dinner.’

And with that, she gently guided Sophie out of the villa, chatting away easily about the incredible olives she’d found in the supermarket, as though the entire conversation they’d had by the pool hadn’t happened. And Sophie, relieved to see Angie back to her old self again, relaxed. They sat down on rattan chairs, sampling olives, sipping cocktails and watching the children play hide and seek in the garden, and she tried to push all thoughts of Angie and Jack’s behaviour and her own mixed feelings to the back of her mind and enjoy their last night together.