‘I told you I was good,’ said Danny, adding up his score.

‘I can’t believe that quetzal is a word.’ I was embarrassed that the best I’d come up with was ‘lame’.

‘It’s a tropical bird from Mexico,’ said Danny, pronouncing it Me’hico. ‘Look it up if you like.’

‘I will.’ I got my phone out and jabbed the word into a search engine. Of course, he was right. ‘It’s pretty,’ I said, admiring its green and red plumage and yellow crest.

‘He saves up a new word for when we play at Christmas,’ said Maggie, giving Danny an affectionate shove. His mum was nice. Quietly spoken, with eyes the same shade as her son’s, and short blonde hair shot through with highlights. There was a wariness in her gaze, dispelled whenever a smile bloomed over her face, which was often. It was obvious she thought the world of Danny and that they had an easy relationship.

‘I’ll go and order more refreshments and be back to thrash you again.’ He bowed deeply, before heading over to the counter, and I realised I still hadn’t thanked him for hanging my paintings, and he hadn’t mentioned them either. There hadn’t really been time, as his arrival had been followed by the arrival of several more, and I’d found myself herding people to tables, and taking orders for drinks and cakes.

The café was almost full once again, couples and families playing everything from Monopoly to backgammon. A large group of students had corralled some tables and were indulging in a noisy but friendly game of dominoes, and opposite them were a handful of pensioners, playing whist.

Meg and Tamsin were rushed off their feet, but didn’t seem to mind. Meg’s cakes had almost sold out, and Tamsin had definitely got the hang of the coffee machine, her cheeks flushed candy-pink with pleasure.

I realised I was having a genuinely nice time. Usually, I’d be too busy checking and double-checking that everything was running according to plan, knowing the success of the event would impact on future business, and that even a tiny disruption would spoil everyone’s enjoyment.

Admittedly, I hadn’t done any networking, and people might assume that Mum and Dad had organised the evening, but it was too late now. I’d look like an idiot if I started going round saying, ‘Oh, by the way, if you’ve enjoyed this evening’s event and would like me to arrange something similar, preferably within the next fortnight, maybe you could give me a call.’ Which reminded me… I really, really needed to order some business cards.

‘Danny says he knew you at school,’ Maggie was saying, and I realised I’d been watching him as he chatted easily to Meg. He had his hands in both his pockets so his jeans pulled tight across his buttocks.

‘That’s right.’ I turned to meet her inquisitive gaze, which was unnervingly similar to Danny’s. ‘Though I didn’t actually know him that well. We only shared art classes during our final year.’

‘It was a difficult time for him, back then.’ Maggie’s fingers twisted a delicate gold chain just visible beneath the neck of her navy-blue jumper. ‘He’d had quite a lot of time off school.’

‘Oh?’ My focus sharpened. ‘Was he ill?’ I tried to imagine him pale-faced in a hospital bed, but it wouldn’t stick. A fractured leg, maybe. I could imagine him leaping out of a tree, or falling off his bike. Now I was picturing him as a little boy, pedalling along a street in hazy sunshine.

Maggie gave a sad little smile. ‘No, he’s been lucky that way, but his father… ’ She paused. ‘He’d been in the army for years, and was discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder. It was a bad time. Danny helped to take care of him, once we’d settled in Kingsbridge.’

‘Right,’ I said easily, reeling a little. ‘That must have been really tough.’

‘It was.’ Her eyes grew shadowy. ‘We did get help, but it wasn’t always enough. Danny was an absolute rock. I probably shouldn’t have relied on him so much, but his sister was away at university, so it was just the three of us. His dad’s much better now, but it had a big impact on Danny.’

‘I can imagine,’ I said, trying to picture it. Mum and Dad had never involved Rob and me in their problems, if they’d had any, and I realised how lucky we’d been. ‘You’re obviously very close.’

Maggie smiled. ‘He’s an absolute diamond, but unfortunately his school work suffered a bit,’ she said, just as Danny returned with tea for three and a plate of buttery shortbread. ‘Not that it’s done him any harm.’

‘Talking about me?’ Danny switched seats so he was next to me instead of Maggie, and I tried not to sneak looks at his Scrabble tiles. His proximity was having an odd effect, as if I’d drunk a few glasses of wine, instead of a cup of weak coffee and a peppermint tea. He smelt like outdoors after a rainstorm – Why was I going all poetic? – undercut with something like moss and old leather. His boots maybe, which looked enormous next to my size four feet. I experienced a surge of tenderness, thinking of him helping to take care of his father, and how hard – and frightening – it must have been.

‘Cassie?’

I snapped my gaze away from his feet. ‘Hmmm?’

‘Do you want to play another game?’

I knew I shouldn’t. I hadn’t intended to get sucked in in the first place, but once Danny had introduced me to Maggie and slung his jacket, which I’d remembered to bring with me, over the back of a chair and opened the Scrabble box, I’d found myself chatting about the weather, and accepting Danny’s offer to buy coffee and cake.

‘Fine,’ I said, watching him sort out the tiles for another game, smiling when I caught Maggie’s eye. I hoped she didn’t think we were on some sort of date, and wondered what he’d told her about me, other than we’d been at school together.

‘I admire what your grandmother’s doing,’ she said, taking a sip of her drink. ‘Danny’s been telling me all about it.’

‘She certainly knows her own mind,’ was all I could think to say. ‘It’s just a shame that she thinks she’s a burden to my dad, and won’t ask for his help with anything, because she feels guilty.’ I wasn’t sure why I’d blurted that out, but Maggie nodded with an empathetic smile. I flushed, wishing I hadn’t used the word ‘burden’ after what she’d told me about Danny helping out when his father was ill.

‘If you’re worried, talk to your dad,’ said Danny, shifting his cup away from the Scrabble board. ‘Does he know how she feels?’

‘He just thinks she’s happy with her fads, which she is, but I can’t help thinking this latest one’s a bit drastic, and that she’s actually a bit lonely.’

‘Sometimes, people need to hear that they’re cared about,’ he said. Guessing his family were the sort that discussed their feelings, I felt a beat of envy. ‘When they’re gone, it doesn’t matter how loud you shout, they won’t hear you.’

‘Is that a quote?’ I did a little eye-roll. ‘I know someone else who lives her life by them.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with living by certain codes,’ said Maggie, a light rebuke in her voice. ‘Danny knows his own mind.’

He was biting his bottom lip, as if regretting what he’d said, and a rush of guilt engulfed me. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean… it’s just a bit of a cliché, that’s all.’

He’d turned his attention to the wall. ‘I see you sold some of your paintings.’ Was that a subtle hint that I should be thanking him, not criticising?

‘You shouldn’t have hung them without asking me.’ It was meant to sound lightly scolding, but came out as ‘ungrateful brat’.

‘He didn’t mean any harm.’ Maggie put down her chunk of shortbread and gave a protective bristle. ‘My son always acts with the very best of intentions. Surely you can see that he would never knowingly hurt anyone?’

Danny’s smile had fled and he was drumming the table with his fingers. ‘Cassie’s right, Mum,’ he said, before I could react. ‘I should have asked first.’ His gaze met mine and I was shocked again by how full on it was. He was the sort of person who gave you his full attention, whether you’d asked for it or not. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, with apparent sincerity.

I felt a creep of shame. ‘No, I’m sorry.’ I pushed at my itchy wrist with my fingertips, trying to hold his gaze. ‘You actually did me a favour. It’s just a bit embarrassing, seeing them there, that’s all.’

‘Were you like that boy on a programme we watched the other Sunday?’ Maggie picked up her shortbread and took a generous bite, apparently prepared to forgive me for insulting her son. ‘He’s only thirteen and has been painting since the age of six, and is some sort of genius,’ she said, wiping her fingers on a napkin. ‘He’s got his own website and his work sells for thousands, all over the world. His parents work for him, framing and packing his paintings, and he’s already a millionaire.’

‘Oh god, no, I was nowhere near that good,’ I said, rearranging the tiles I’d drawn out of the bag to spell wankers. I quickly jumbled them up and placed an ‘e’ at the end of Danny’s ‘hat’ to spell ‘hate’. Brilliant. ‘It was just a hobby, like my brother was into computers.’ And now he was going to be teaching other people about them. As well as being a father. It still made my head a bit swimmy to think about that. ‘I’m actually an event planner,’ I said. ‘I worked for a big company in London, and now I’m hoping to set up on my own.’

‘In London?’

‘Um, yes.’ I tried to pull up the image I’d had in my parents’ kitchen, of myself as an understanding boss, being interviewed for a magazine, living in an apartment near a park. ‘I’ve been looking at some properties online,’ I fibbed.

Maggie looked impressed. ‘I expect it costs a lot more to live there now than it did when I was training to be a nurse at King’s, before I met Danny’s dad.’

Crap. ‘Oh, er, yes, it’s ridiculously pricey. I’ll probably share too, with… someone.’ Adam flew into my head. Maybe he could help me find somewhere. He might even let me stay at his Canary Wharf apartment, while I found my feet!

The thought died as quickly as it had flared. Even if he wasn’t seeing someone else by now, it would be far too embarrassing to get in touch after the way I’d cut him out of my life.

‘What about New York?’ Danny said silkily, and I remembered too late what I’d said the night before.

‘Possibly.’ I concentrated hard on the board in front of me. ‘I haven’t decided yet.’

‘Your job sounds like hard work,’ said Maggie. ‘But rewarding.’

‘Actually, it can be a bit shallow.’ The words had leapt out without warning, as I thought about the clients with more money than sense, spending hundreds, sometimes hundreds of thousands, on having a good time, when people were starving in the world. ‘Well, not always,’ I amended, aware of their curious gazes. There’d been plenty of occasions – the fundraising events – that were immensely satisfying, and I’d loved seeing someone’s face light up when they realised all the stops had been pulled out to create an experience they’d never forget. ‘It’s fun, but a lot of responsibility,’ I said at last, when I realised Maggie was looking at me with interest. ‘Not as worthwhile as, say, being a nurse.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Maggie said darkly. ‘It wasn’t a barrel of laughs.’

‘No, I guess not.’

‘And there’s no reason why you can’t change career, if you don’t like it,’ she added.

‘I do like it.’ I wondered what Danny had said. Probably something to do with my paintings. ‘I couldn’t become an artist,’ I said, though neither had suggested I should. ‘It takes years to get to a level where you can make a living, and there are plenty of artists around already, especially in this neck of the woods.’ I was thinking of the long list I’d seen online, and Connor Daley’s furious face. ‘Loads of them probably don’t make it, and I can’t afford to be one of those. Not that I was considering it.’

Still, no one spoke, and I started when Danny’s fingers skimmed my hand as he stretched out to change ‘hate’ into ‘chateau’. ‘Not a bad score,’ he said, licking the tip of his pencil before writing it down. It was as if I hadn’t spoken.

Maggie pushed back her chair. ‘Too much coffee,’ she said with a little smile as she rose, smoothing her hands down her jeans. ‘Can you point me in the direction of the ladies’ room?’

When she’d gone, I cast my eyes around, surprised to find it was gone eight thirty, already. People were laughing and chatting, absorbed in their games, and Meg and Tamsin were engrossed in conversation behind the counter.

‘I should take some photos for the website,’ I said.

‘The rain’s stopped.’ Danny spoke at the same time. ‘Would you like to go for a walk?’

‘What?’ I paused in the act of diving for my bag and looked at him. ‘Now?’

‘When you’ve finished here.’

A list of excuses ran through my head: I’m tired, I need to get home, I have to order some new business cards, but all that came out was, ‘Where?’

‘Along the coastal path.’ His eyes crinkled into a smile. ‘I want to show you something that—’

‘Will win me over?’

His smile widened. ‘Maybe.’

‘It’s getting dark.’

‘There’s a full moon tonight.’

‘How do you even know that?’

He gave a modest shrug. ‘I wanted to time it right.’

‘Can’t you just tell me what it is?’

‘Hardly,’ he said. ‘Where would be the drama in that?’

It was a fair point, and I was intrigued, in spite of myself. ‘I’ll think about it,’ I said, adopting a lofty tone. ‘But, business first.’ I fished my phone out of my bag. ‘Photos!’

He grinned. ‘Make sure you get my best side.’

As I moved around the café, checking no one minded me taking their picture, I snapped away, careful to get everyone’s heads in, laughing when Meg and Tamsin each picked up a pair of iced cherry buns and held them in front of their chests in a parody of the Calendar Girls.

‘That won’t make the website,’ I warned, turning to take a shot of Danny and Maggie, heads touching as they leaned across the table and grinned for the camera. Maggie’s teeth were as white and straight as her son’s, and I found myself wondering what his dad looked like.

As I quickly scrolled through the photos, checking everything was in focus, I felt a draught stir my hair as the door opened, and heard a female voice, say, ‘There she is.’

‘Tilly! You’re late.’ I turned to see her coming towards me, casual as ever in ripped skinny jeans and trainers, her cropped hair hidden beneath the hood of a grey zip-up top. ‘I found him wandering outside,’ she said, doing something funny with her face that seemed to imply intense sexual excitement. A man had followed her in. She must have acquired a boyfriend, which seemed unlikely, given how vociferous she’d been about being single just two days ago. But …stranger things had happened.

‘I know you said it was early days, but I didn’t realise you hadn’t even told him where you lived,’ she was saying.

‘What?’ I couldn’t get the gist of her words – or why she’d stepped aside like a hostess introducing a guest. My gaze slid to the man behind her, waiting patiently for me to speak, his dark-chocolate eyes glimmering with suppressed amusement… my hand flew to my throat.

It was Adam.