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Pearl reached over and touched Alyssa’s hand. ‘Are you OK? You look a bit pale.’

‘I’m fine. Thank you.’

It was her staple answer to most things. The words you said to be polite, because the truth was inconvenient. If she started unpacking it here, it would probably put Pearl off her quinoa cake. And nobody wanted that.

‘I know I haven’t had chance to say it in a non-whispery way, but I am proud of you,’ said Pearl, squeezing her daughter’s hand. ‘You’re doing so well for yourself as Alyssa Heart.’

Compared to Beryl, who clearly nobody had chosen first. Or was Pearl lying now too?

‘Your dad’s proud of you as well, you know. He’s just a bit rusty on how to show it. And he doesn’t understand what being a love coach is all about. He’d always wanted you to get a job in banking. He’s learning.’

Alyssa tried not to scoff. Percival Bagnor had probably done more bonking than banking, and why was it he could appreciate Devan’s love app, but not her work?

‘And before you ask, he takes his role seriously these days. Absolutely no staffroom hanky-panky.’

‘Right,’ said Alyssa.

‘Perhaps you could have a lovely heart-to-heart with him too? Go for a nice pie in The Rat and Raspberry. Heal some old wounds?’

Alyssa had had even less contact with her dad than her mum since she’d left Hartglove. He wasn’t much of a phone chatter and had never bothered her to do awkward brunch in London like her mum sometimes had.

‘I’m not into pie,’ Alyssa lied.

‘No, of course.’ Pearl flapped a hand. ‘But they do a good side salad.’

Side salad. She had more or less been her dad’s dull side salad, while he went off in search of tasty meat. He’d always been too busy ‘working’ to spend much quality time with her when she’d been growing up. She now knew his version of work wasn’t quite so wholesome as hers.

‘I’m busy,’ Alyssa replied more firmly, enjoying the sense of satisfaction it gave her.

Her mum pursed her lips but seemed to take the hint.

After a halt in conversation, their chocolate quinoa cake arrived. With a bit of prodding and a wary taste test, Alyssa was amazed to find she didn’t dislike it.

‘So, you must be wondering about Devan. You, him and Sylvie used to be such good friends when you were younger. Why do you never ask about them?’

Well, that was enough to put anyone off their cake.

‘It’s not my concern.’ Alyssa didn’t like the fact Devan was presumably still married, though with all the media coverage, Sylvie must be in the know. The love task stunts were just promo for his app and a boost for the town. Just business, as they’d both called it. And yet …

‘He’s not married anymore, of course. He and Sylvie split up years ago.’

Did they? Alyssa couldn’t stop her ears from twitching. She wanted to know more, yet she felt compelled to keep a poker face. How embarrassing that she even cared what had happened between them. It was years ago. She was the bigger, completely un-nosy person. She made a show of inspecting her sparkly nails as though they were far more intriguing.

‘They still lived in the same big house, until recent months,’ her mother went on. ‘Though they were being platonic.’ She said the word as though it was something that had been invented by three-headed Martians. ‘There have always been lots of rumours about what went on behind closed doors, but he always does the right thing, does Devan. He stayed in the family home until Emmalina was settled at senior school. Very respectable.’

Rumours. Respectable? Alyssa nearly choked on her super berry smoothie. ‘Always does the right thing?’ she heard herself saying. Like shagging the tits off Sylvie, when he’d meant to be dating her? Though she wasn’t going to say that out loud.

‘Oh yes, he’s known for it,’ Pearl ploughed on, seemingly unaware her daughter was quietly seething. ‘Good Old Devan, they always call him. I think it suits him.’

Alyssa narrowed her eyes. She did remember him mentioning that, although he hadn’t looked particularly pleased about it. Though he probably was pleased Good Old Devan could be abbreviated to GOD. It was an upgrade from being a BUM.

‘He’s been doing a lot to try and regenerate Hartglove too, although he’s a bit bashful about it. The town is proud of him.’

Not like a certain daughter, who completely denies all ties to it.

‘I was never convinced by those two,’ said Pearl. ‘Devan and Sylvie. They were always perfectly nice to each other, but I never once saw them being lovey. Not even when they were newly married. It was as though the spark was missing. No one was surprised when they got divorced. She wanted to explore other avenues, although I never hear about Devan dating. Well, not until now …’ Pearl seemed to ponder it for a moment, then beamed as though she’d solved the world’s problems. ‘Maybe he’s been waiting for his perfect match. Wasn’t he sweet on you, when you were both younger?’

Alyssa blinked. Her young infatuation had been all-consuming. Did her mother honestly not remember? If she hadn’t, perhaps the rest of the town had forgotten too. And yet she’d been too humiliated to come back to Hartglove for twelve whole years because of it. Had she built up that one excruciating night of being publicly dumped to be more than it was? Everything that had followed in her life had been coloured by it.