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I waited for Theo’s answer, irritated with myself for feeling a pang of nerves about what he might be about to say. Or would he throw in the towel and refuse to take part? After all, Carla’s mistake had put us in this position – she was always in such a rush, trying to do three things at once, it was no wonder she’d booked us on the wrong retreat.

‘I’d like us to be able to write together again,’ said Theo after a while.

Melissa nodded earnestly and there were some rumblings from the rest of the group. I tried to nod along encouragingly, but it jarred with me that all he seemed to care about was the writing. Clearly, resurrecting our friendship was not a priority for him.

‘That’s a great start, Theo. Let’s leave it at that for now and move on. Rob? Claire? Can you introduce yourselves to the group?’

Rob and Claire, the couple in their late thirties to Theo’s right, were from London and had been together for fifteen years but married for only two of those. Claire was rocking a shocking pink jumpsuit and Rob was wearing a zipped-up tracksuit top and looked like he worked in media. They seemed nice, and normal. She wanted to bring some excitement back to their lives. Rob wanted Claire to be happy, like she used to be.

The final couple to make up the group were Renee and Justin from Denver, Colorado, who were in their late twenties. Having moved in together two years earlier, they’d recently discovered that life together wasn’t the bed of roses they’d imagined it to be. They’d met at college and had enjoyed a whirlwind romance which turned into something more solid over time, but the thrill of those early years was long gone. I could imagine how that might have been a shock to the system – Renee looked delicate and a little lost, with the kind of blonde curls you read about in children’s books and a fragility that made me wonder how she was going to stand up to Melissa’s scrutiny. Justin, who gave off distinctly Ivy League vibes (in a nice way), was baby-faced handsome.

Once we’d all done our talky bit, the atmosphere lifteda little. The whole introducing myself to a group thing had always filled me with dread, and while some people took the floor and ran with it, I could never wait for it to be somebody else’s turn. Melissa reassured us that we’d all done a great job. But just as I thought she was about to release us from this frankly hellish situation, she had one more thing to say.

‘Before I let you go, I just wanted to circle back to Scarlett and Theo.’

Theo, who was already on his feet, sat back down again in slow motion and I smiled brightly, wondering what the flip she was going to say next.

‘Sure,’ I said, as though I didn’t have a care in the world.

Melissa, of course, could see straight through me. ‘No need to put a brave face on it, Scarlett, I know this can’t be easy for you guys. As you’ve told us, you’re writing partners rather than a romantic couple. And to complicate matters, you haven’t spoken for several years. But I really do think you’ve got an opportunity here to shake things up. You need to write a book together, yes?’

I nodded dutifully.

‘That’s the plan,’ said Theo.

‘And how high are the stakes?’ asked Melissa.

‘Pretty high,’ I said, thinking of my dad.

‘We need to make this work,’ added Theo, who of course was being all mysterious about exactly why he needed this project so badly.

‘Then can I ask you both to commit to this couples retreat and to do it with an open mind? I’m guessing you’ve got nothing to lose . . .’ said Melissa.

‘And everything to gain, dudes,’ said Paul, who was irritating me already.

‘Just to say, though,’ piped up Harmony, ‘and no offence, you guys . . .’ she added.

I braced myself.

‘It’s just that I’m not comfortable with there being members of the group who aren’t willing to open up,’ said Harmony. ‘Melissa, you’re asking all of us to bare our souls, but in my opinion, everyone has to be all in, or else it won’t feel right and it won’t be fair.’

Bloody Harmony, just because she’d probably been in therapy since she was about five years old. It clearly hadn’t helped her empathise with others.

‘Good point, Harmony,’ said Melissa. ‘Scarlett and Theo, how do you feel about this? Are you willing to throw yourselves into the task at hand and get involved in the exercises I set for you?’

I chewed on my bottom lip, not wanting to commit to something I wouldn’t then be able to deliver. If I said I was going to do something, I meant it, even if I often immediately regretted agreeing to it. I wanted to take a second this time. And I wasn’t going to let therapy-queen Harmony push me into something I wasn’t comfortable with.

‘Can we come back to you on that?’ asked Theo, as if reading my mind.

‘Don’t overthink it. Go with your heart, guys,’ said Melissa. ‘Does this feel like something you can commit to?’

Theo and I looked cautiously at each other. At least he was going to find this as hard as I was, and Claire and Rob seemed nice and Justin and Renee were sweet. Perhaps we could muddle through. The word ‘stakes’ was in the forefront of my mind – I had to do whatever it took to make this book work. Even if what Harmony wanted was basically something I might not ever be able to give. I was all for talking about feelings – other people’s! I could get emotional myself, of course I could. Good emotions, that was, like joy and excitement. Sad, even, if I was watching a filmor something. And thinking about the book world, I was completely au fait with rejection, disappointment and envy. But I knew what this lot wanted, especially Harmony and probably Melissa, too – they wanted me to tap into the stuff I’d long ago buried, to show raw, unadulterated emotion. I mean, I might be being a bit dramatic here, but they wanted tears, I knew they did. Again, my experience of therapy was loosely based on what I’d read in books and seen on TV, but from what I gathered, unless someone started sobbing uncontrollably, it wasn’t a proper group therapy session.

‘Are we really doing this?’ Theo asked dubiously, looking at me as though he was hoping I’d sayNo, of course we’re not.

But if we didn’t do the retreat, we’d have to find a different way to muddle through, involving us forking out over six hundred pounds each to stay on at the hotel.

‘I think we’re going to have to give it a go,’ I said bravely.