Chapters (54)

But I do, and I know that when he and Penny catch their flight tomorrow, it’s not the end. It’s the start of something, for all of us.

Right now, I am a little edgy as Izzy heats the butter in the pan – ‘Not too much!’ she says with a smile – but we are close by and she has seen me doing this plenty of times. She has even done it herself. Not on camera, though; not being filmed, making a real cookery show.

‘In go the eggs,’ she announces. ‘Now, as soon as they start to set, you need to get your spatula ready and drag the mixture to the middle of the pan, whirling it around. You want it to cook quickly. In with the cheese now …’ She carries on, utterly unselfconscious, and tips it from the pan to the plate.

‘And that,’ she says, grinning right to camera now, another milk tooth gone, ‘is how you make the best omelette in the world.’

The End

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to Tilda McDonald, Molly Walker-Sharp, Rachel Faulkner-Willcocks, Sabah Khan and the entire fabulous Avon team. Thanks as ever to my wonderful agent, Caroline Sheldon, and to Wendy Rigg for the Seventies fashion angle and all-round David Essex-loving brilliance. A big shout-out to Tania Cheston for reading, checking and geeing me along, to Mary Fine (and Penelope) for schnoodle inspiration and to Jenny Tucker, Kath Brown, Susan Walker, Marie O’Riordan, Cathy Gilligan and all my wonderfully supportive buddies. Extra special thanks to Lisa Woolley-Band and Fiona Miller for the life coaching info (especially the standing-on-chair bit) and to all at Elise Allan’s creativity coaching group (thank you Anne, Annie, Christobel, Mif and Helen!). Finally, all my love to Jimmy, Sam, Dexter and Erin, my fantastic family who somehow manage to put up with me.

Follow me on Instagram @fiona_gib

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