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Lucy sat back and smiled across the table at Damien. ‘This is so lovely. Thank you.’

‘You are exactly what the doctor ordered,’ he said. ‘I’ve had a godawful week with the press crawling all over the case. The thought of a Friday unwind with you was all that kept me going.’

Damien was possibly the kindest man Lucy had ever met. All through college, he had been her friend and confidant, alwaysthere when she needed a shoulder to cry on, never asking anything in return. She’d known that he liked her, wanted to be her boyfriend, but he’d never pushed it. In truth, his social skills had been so minimal then that he’d never have had the guts to act on his feelings but, still, he’d respected their friendship and she had always appreciated that. These meet-ups were the only chance she gotto be just Lucy, not Mum, not daughter, not shopkeeper, not worrier, just Lucy. She had Damien to thank for that.

Damien’s phone buzzed and he looked at the screen. ‘Damn. It’s my junior counsel. Must be about the case. I’m sorry, Lucy, will you excuse me for a few minutes while I take this?’

Lucy waved her hand. ‘Of course. I’ve got the bottle of wine to keep me company, so don’t worry aboutit.’

Damien grinned at her and stood up, walking outside while talking urgently into his mobile.

Lucy envied him that, being important, being someone whose opinion was required, whose expertise was essentialto resolve cases. That must feel wonderful, she thought, as she poured more wine into her glass. Her head was pulling her in the direction of ‘If only’ so she pushed against it. What wasthe point? That part of her life was shut down for good.

Sarah, Jenny and Billy had all tried to get her to go back and finish her degree, but Lucy had said no. She’d said it was because she was too busy with the kids and the shop and looking after Billy. All of that was true, she didn’t have the time to study, but if she’d really wanted to, she could have studied at night. Deep down, she knewthe real reason was that she was scared. Her confidence in her ability to study and do well in exams was gone. She’d never be top of the class or get a first. That Lucy was gone. The new Lucy was someone who hadn’t really challenged her mind in years.

When the mums at the school gate had laughed about ‘baby brain’ and losing touch, she’d laughed with them, but really it had hurt like hell thatshe was no longer smart. Jenny used to tease her for being ‘genius Lucy’, but no one could say that now. Today she could barely finish a novel without falling asleep. In her heart, she believed that if she tried to finish her degree, she’d most likely fail the exams. And even if she did manage to scrape a pass, who would hire a woman in her late thirties with no experience? No, that part of herlife was over for good.

Damien returned to the table and apologized. ‘Sorry, this bloody Lippet case is proving very difficult.’ He sat down and smiled at her. ‘By the way, I took your advice and changed my opening statement to include the Churchill quote, “The scrutiny of twelve honest jurors provides defendants and plaintiffs alike a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law.” It wentdown a treat with the jury.’

Lucy beamed. ‘Really?’

He nodded. ‘They loved it, made them feel important,valued, and hopefully more sympathetic to me and my client, so thank you very much.’

Lucy reached over and squeezed his hand. ‘I’m glad I could be of some little help. You know how much I love hearing you discuss your cases.’

He lifted her hand and kissed it. ‘I know. It’s a strange formof verbal foreplay for you! Although that’s good news for me because I’m sure I fall down a bit on the other kind.’

‘You’re absolutely fine in that department too. A man of many talents,’ she said, winking at him.

Damien picked up his knife and fork and began cutting his steak. ‘So, how are things with you?’

‘Same old, same old. Dylan is being his usual easy self and Kelly is pushing all mybuttons. I found out she’s been seeing this boy, Sean, whose brother got caught selling cocaine.’

Damien raised an eyebrow. ‘Not great. Not what you want for her. But did this boy, Sean, ever get into trouble himself?’

‘No,’ Lucy admitted. ‘But I still don’t want Kelly hanging around with a kid from a bad family.’

‘That’s understandable,’ Damien said. Lucy loved that he got it. He knew thatshe just wanted the best for her kids.

‘Damien O’Neill. Is that you?’

Lucy and Damien looked up in surprise. A sweaty, overweight, bald man in a pinstripe suit was moving towards them across the room.

Lucy heard Damien sigh. Then he stood to greet the man. ‘Leslie, nice to see you,’ he said stiffly.

‘You too,’ the man bellowed. ‘And who is this lovely lady?’

‘You remember Lucy Murphy fromcollege.’

‘My God, there’s a blast from the past. How are you?’ Leslie asked. Then, tilting his head sideways, he added, ‘Such a pity you had to drop out like that. I always thought you were the one to watch, top of the class and all that.’

‘Lucy, do you remember Leslie Henshaw? He was in our class in college,’ Damien said.

Lucy did remember him: he was one of the St Jude’s crowd she’d hated.One of the people who whispered about her behind her back and gossiped. My God, he had changed. He used to be slim with a mop of brown curly hair. ‘Oh, of course,’ she said. ‘It must be almost twenty years since I’ve seen you. How are you?’

‘Fantastic,’ he said loudly. ‘Made a killing on property in the boom, solid property investments and all that, and of course I’m senior counsel now. MarriedAoife White, do you remember her? Smart and good-looking. Three kids, house in the South of France, et cetera. How about you, Lucy? What have you been up to? Did that bolter Tom ever come back?’