She threw her arms around me and gave me a squeeze. She smelled of lemons and sunshine and I felt a little grubby even though I knew I wasn’t. It did all have a whiff of ‘over the top’ about it, though. The two of us had only met the once, but Clio was treating me like her long-lost best friend. Then I remembered the photos of her on Facebook, how her smile had been painted on, her pictures just ones that other people had posted. Maybe Clio’s delight at seeing us was actually genuine? Did she have the same gut instinct that I did? Feeling slightly more at ease I returned Clio’s hug, albeit not quite as enthusiastically.

Then Noah was at my side like a little limpet. He seemed to have got an attack of the nerves, too, and the excitement of a minute ago had evaporated. He stuck to my leg and looked at his feet, kicking at the gravel with his trainer, but Clio was having none of it. She ruffled his hair and then dropped down to his level so that she could look him in the eyes.

‘And how are you, Noah? How was the train?’

That was all it took. He was off, all shyness forgotten, telling her in minute detail about their journey. I saw Poppy standing coolly to one side, watching to see how this all developed before committing herself to any particular course of action. Wise girl, I thought.

‘Lift back later?’ asked Marlon, and then before I had a chance to reply or even thank him for collecting us, he and the Volvo had gone.

‘Come in, come in,’ said Clio. ‘Let me show you around and then we’ll get some drinks organised. Mummy’s not here. She’s gone out for lunch with some friends and Hector is away shooting or something so it’s just us, I’m afraid.’

Relief washed over me. This was all hard enough to grasp without having to meet Clio’s entire family on top. Hector must be the brother, I decided, cringing inwardly at his name. He wouldn’t have lasted two minutes at my school with a name like that.

‘I don’t want to sound really dumb,’ I said as Clio threaded her arm through mine and pulled me towards the door, ‘but do you actually live here, for real?’

Clio stretched her mouth into an apologetic grimace. ‘Is it totally awful? I do, I’m afraid. The house and estate have been in Mummy’s family forever and it came to her when my grandfather died. I’ve lived here all my life and Mummy will leave it to me and Hector when she dies. The title will go to Hector, of course, being the firstborn.’