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‘It always gets tense after a tour,’ Jay explained. ‘And this has been a long one.’

‘Yeah, but it’s always Si kicking off with Cole,’ Arlo said, opening the wine. ‘There’s a philosophical conundrum about what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.’

‘Oh yes, the irresistible force paradox,’ Valentina said.

Arlo smiled. ‘Exactly. Well, Si is the unstoppable force and Cole is very much the immovable object.’

‘You seemed able to diffuse the situation.’

Arlo grinned. ‘I do kickboxing and they know I could take them both down in a second if I chose to. I’m just going to check on Cole. Although he pretends he’s fine, he hates the tension.’

Jay poured a glass of the Riesling and handed it to Valentina before pouring himself one. They chinked their wine glasses together as Leanne took a couple of selfies with Micky beside them.

‘How are you, Tina?’ Jay asked.

‘I’m good.’

‘Still an accountant?’

‘Still an accountant,’ she confirmed. ‘And how are you?’ She pulled herself up to sit on one of the amps and took a sip of wine. It was delicious.

‘I’m okay, looking forward to some downtime now this tour has finished. It’s been full-on. I lost track of what country we were in, four months into it.’

Jay did look tired. Even though the yellow strip lighting wasn’t the most flattering, Valentina could see the massive circles under his eyes.

‘It can’t have helped if you’ve been going through a split.’

‘Yeah, and Cole’s right. I should have stayed well away from the boss’s daughter.’

‘You can’t help who you fall in love with.’

He gave a little snort of not very amused laughter.

‘Maybe you could do with a holiday.’

Jay silently nodded then asked, ‘How’s Rocco?’

‘He’s fine,’ Valentina said carefully.

‘Does he ever, you know, talk about me, about the old days, before… you know…’

Valentina shook her head. She didn’t go into detail as Jay looked vulnerable and she thought it best that she didn’t mention that after their argument Rocco had sworn them all to never mention Jay Costello’s name again. She even felt guilty if she read an article about them in a magazine.

‘And Frankie?’ His expression softened. ‘How’s Frankie?’

‘She’s good.’

‘I’ve been thinking about the past a lot lately. And Drumkeldy. Seeing you here tonight… it’s serendipitous. You’re a reminder of home and when things were simpler. It’s a sign. You’re a sign.’

‘I am?’ Valentina felt a little uneasy. It was quite a weight of responsibility.

Arlo took that moment to return.

‘Cole’s fine, chatting to the bar staff about the weather warnings and what the low and high pressures signify.’

Leanne came over, her pupils dilated and a faraway smile on her face.

‘Would you mind if I bailed on you?’