‘You’re a brilliant godfather. Just because you weren’t actually in the country a lot of the time doesn’t mean anything. People can be just down the road and still not do half as much as you’ve done for them or take half as much interest. They’ve always known you were there, and if needed, you’d have been here in a flash. Don’t ever sell yourself short by thinking that you haven’t been fulfilling that role well enough, because you have.’

‘Thanks, Lily. That means a lot, especially coming from you.’

I knew exactly how Jack felt. I had been just down the road and still felt like had missed out on so much. He’d had the excuse of thousands of miles’ distance, but I didn’t. Mine was a choice not to go to nativity plays, or birthday parties or any of the other things that I’d been invited to and felt like I couldn’t face. There wasn’t really any excuse for that.

‘That’s a serious expression,’ he said, still lying on the grass.

‘No, not really,’ I said, trying to brush it off.

‘Fibber,’ he said. ‘I know you better than that by now. You can’t fool me.’

I gave him a prod in the side. ‘Don’t be so smug,’ I said, trying to stop the smile from breaking on my face. ‘Come on, up you get.’ I stood up and put down a hand to help him up, which he took. I heaved but not much happened. Placing my other hand over the one already wrapped around his I pulled again, this time really putting my back into it. ‘Bloody hell, you’re heavy.’

Now upright, probably due more to his own effort than mine, Jack looked down at me and grinned. ‘Like I said, you say the nicest things. Shall we go in to dinner?’ He offered his arm as though we were at some grand function being held at the manor, where he would be dressed in a tuxedo rather than jersey shorts and the well-washed T-shirt he was currently sporting. His face was so serious, I couldn’t help but laugh, quickly covering it to join in with the joke. ‘That would be lovely.’

‘I do hope it’s not turtle soup again.’

‘Yes, it does get rather a bore, doesn’t it?’

‘Perhaps we could have oysters tomorrow? I’ll send a note to the housekeeper.’ He gave a grin so wicked it could probably challenge the alleged aphrodisiac properties of the oysters.

‘You could, but I’ve heard that the housekeeper is used to her own way of doing things. And you may find that note returned somewhere a little more uncomfortable than your hand.’

Jack threw his head back, laughing as we entered the kitchen, and I pretended not to notice the look exchanged between my brother and his wife.

‘How are you feeling about the premiere now?’ Jack asked.

‘Nervous but a tiny bit excited too.’ I grinned.