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‘Not exactly,’ I mumbled.

‘Ah. I sense there’s something quite challenging going on here,’ said Melissa enigmatically.

‘We’re authors,’ said Theo. ‘And we’re supposed to be writing a novel together but we haven’t seen each other for . . . quite a few years, now.’

‘Mind if I sit down?’ asked Melissa, not waiting for an answer and pulling across a chair from a neighbouring table.She perched on it, clasping her hands in her lap and looking at us with interest.

‘What I’m sensing is that the two of you are struggling to communicate. You have to write this book together but you’re not sure where to begin. And both of you are holding something back.’

Blimey. How did she know all of this? Was she a therapist or a psychic?

‘Have either of you had therapy before?’

‘No!’ we said in unison. Funny how we kept doing that.

‘Well there’s a first time for everything, right?’ she said enthusiastically. ‘And it seems a shame not to participate when you’re all paid up for the workshop. I’m only in Europe for a few months of the year. The rest of the time I’m mostly in California. I usually head over to Bali in the winter.’

Knew it.

‘So what I’m saying is, I encourage you to come and join us for our introductory session this morning. It’s nowhere near as scary as you might think, I promise.’

‘As it happens, we haven’t exactly got a choice,’ said Theo. ‘We’re being forced into it by our literary agent.’

‘And the hotel manager,’ I added.

‘I see,’ said Melissa, looking disproportionately pleased about all of this.

I decided to try another angle.

‘If everyone else is in a proper couple, won’t it be weird that we’re not?’ I asked hopefully.

‘Not at all,’ said Melissa, waving my suggestion away with a waft of her hand. ‘I often have clients in my workshops whose friendships have broken down. It’s the same premise – connection, getting to know each other on a deeper level. Being honest about our feelings.’

‘Ah,’ said Theo wryly. ‘You’ve lost me there.’

I laughed a little bit, I couldn’t help it. Theo hated talking about feelings, I remembered that now. Not that I was much better at it.

‘Come,’ said Melissa, holding out her arm, which was tinkling with about twenty gold bangles. ‘Join in for today and see how you get on. Where’s the harm?’

I looked at Theo, willing him to come up with a reason why we shouldn’t, why we couldn’t possibly.

‘I’m not sure––’ he began, before Melissa swiftly cut him off.

‘Only one way tobesure. Come on, guys. Take a risk. Do something differently. Embrace this opportunity!’

It was Theo’s turn to laugh this time. He looked completely different when he wasn’t wearing his trademark scowl. Almost approachable. Even more handsome. Damn him.

‘What do you say?’ he said to me. ‘Do you think you could tolerate my presence for a few more hours this morning?’

I bit my lip, hating that I was being put in this position. I supposed I just had to keep the goal in mind: we had a book to write. And not just any book, a brilliant one that would make me enough money to do the stuff I needed to do for my dad and the others. If this stupid couples retreat thing could in any way help – not that I could imagine how it could at this precise moment – then I supposed it was worth a try.

‘I can if you can,’ I said with fake conviction.

Would we be expected to do the whole group therapy thing I’d only ever seen on TV, I wondered? It was funny that this was what was prompting me to go into therapy for the first time. If anything, I should probably have done it years ago, but nobody had suggested it, probably because I’d done such a good job of convincing them all that I was absolutely fine.‘Perfect,’ said Melissa, scraping back her chair. ‘Follow me. And bring your coffee!’

I took one defiant bite of my croissant, picked up my cup and followed her out into the garden with Theo close behind. What in God’s name were we letting ourselves in for?

Chapter Six