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‘Well, first I’d need to find someone with whom to do the deed.’ Athene’s eyes sparkled. ‘On a vaguely related note, I wanted to show you this before Jess gets here.’

She held up her phone for Katie and expanded a photo of a pale blue note card.

REGRETS

Dear Natalia and Guy,

Thank you for the very kind invitation to your wedding. Sorry, I won’t be there to embarrass myself on the dance floor :) Unfortunately, I’ll be at a silly old book fair abroad.

Wishing you a wonderful day from afar.

All the best wishes to you both.

Athene xx

Katie rolled her eyes. ‘Are you really at a book fair?’

Athene feigned an innocent voice. ‘Poetic licence. The Florence fair finishes the day before so I could technically attend but, frankly, I’d rather take part in a bog-snorkelling race.’

Katie laughed.

‘Besides, I’m heading straight from the airport back up here to the farm. The Lake District is almost abroad. It’s definitely a different country. Greg’s memoir is coming along nicely.’ She grinned. ‘The nights are long and it’s lonely with only his flock and Arlo for company so I said I’d come up and give him some feedback on a final edit before we submit it to publishers.’

‘Erm. That’s in April. Won’t he be busy with lambing?’ Katie asked mischievously.

‘He suggested that I might have a better understanding of his lifestyle and challenges if I experienced them hands-on. Apparently he has one of those chi-chi shepherd’s huts on wheels that he sleeps in during the most fecund period.’

‘I hope you have decent wellies!’ Katie said, imagining that a hut involved in birthing lambs might be anything but chi-chi.

‘Of course. I bought myself a new pair of Hunter’s from Selfridges. Been busy getting them decently muddy in the park.’

‘Well, if you still feel the same about him when you’ve seen him with his hand up a sheep’s bottom, it must be love.’

‘Oh, at this stage, I’m only hoping for hot sex. I’m done with love.’ The twinkle in Athene’s eyes was now bright enough to rival the night sky above Derwentwater.

Katie didn’t believe a word of it. Her friend would not travel so far from London so often without a very good reason. Her heart felt full of hope that Athene and Greg could be as happy as she and Arlo were. And as for hot sex … hmmm. Arlo was definitely a man of hidden depths. Creative. Surprising. Fire rose to her cheeks. They’d been up and down between Cumbria and London so many times over the past year that she’d lost count.

‘Oh, look, here’s Jess!’ Katie waved before speaking to Athene. ‘Did you see Ned in the Mail? He told me he’s got the green light for his Millican Dalton film from a US streaming company.’

Athene frowned. ‘But it’s about a man from the Lake District. Why would the Americans want to make it?’

‘They told him it would only have appeal if it’s an American outdoorsman so he’s busy rewriting it. At first I didn’t believe he’d do that. It’ll completely change the whole concept. He seemed so wrapped up in the whole idea of the Lakes and Dalton and …’ Katie sighed.

‘I suppose he has to make a living,’ Athene said.

‘I know.’ Katie should and partly did understand but she was still a tiny bit disappointed that Ned had sold a small piece of his soul.

‘Hello!’ Katie hugged Jess and, after they’d let go, Jess smiled.

‘I heard you mention Ned. Let’s get the elephant out of the room, shall we? Have you seen him with that woman they’ve cast in his new film?’

‘I have,’ said Katie, relieved that Jess had brought up the subject. ‘She’s playing Millican Dalton’s girlfriend.’

‘Dalton never had a “girlfriend” as such from what I read,’ Katie said, ‘but I’m all for romance, so I’m glad he’s put one in his script.’

‘From what I’ve heard on the grapevine, he’s written four women all chasing after this Millican character,’ Jess said.

Athene’s eyes widened and then, as one, they all burst out laughing.