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‘We need another set of photos,’ Simon said without preamble. ‘The engagement on the Music Mag piece is dropping off. There’s a sushi place called Mooch in Manchester. It’s got floor-to-ceiling glass walls right on the street. You’ve got a seat in the window. I’ve put you down for 2 p.m. Car coming to pick you up.’

‘I’m supposed to be resting before the gig,’ Ashley said, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

‘You can rest while you eat,’ Simon said. ‘Just make sure you walk in together.’

‘She doesn’t even come to the gigs, Simon,’ Ashley said quietly, leaning against the wooden bulkhead in case of errant ears down the corridor. Was Molly in? Ashley was never quite sure where she was.

‘She’s not? I’ll have a word with Karen about that.’

Ashley was aghast. ‘Don’t, Simon. I don’t want her thinking I’m tattling to Daddy.’

‘Then you tell her she needs to be seen. But she agreed to this, and I want what we agreed to.’

‘Yeah, she loves doing as she’s told. Always has,’ Ashley said dryly.

They hung up.

Ashley let out a long breath and walked up the narrow aisle to the small rear lounge to find Molly sitting on the edge of her lower bunk with her feet resting on the runner rug, reading a crime novel. She was wearing a dark green shirt that looked a bit too big for her and black jeans.

‘Simon’s ordered a car,’ Ashley said, leaning against the bunk frame.

Molly didn’t look up from her book. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Some sushi place.’

‘Right,’ Molly said.

She tried to place her bookmark on her current page but dropped it, and had to jump down to the floor to grab it. Ashley watched the back of Molly’s neck while Molly searched the narrow gap. There was a little mole right at the top of her spine. Ashley had forgotten about that mole. She wanted to reach out and touch it. It was only a passing impulse.

‘You don’t have to go if you’re too tired,’ Ashley said.

‘It’ll make Karen happy,’ Molly said, coming back up with the bookmark. Her face was slightly red from being upside down in the cramped space. ‘It’s fine. I like fish.’

***

The restaurant was too bright inside. It had white stone floors and a lot of leather booths that looked like they belonged in a car. They were seated at a table right by the front glass wall.

The waiter brought them two bowls of edamame beans and a selection of sushi.

‘Are you going to eat that one?’ Molly asked, pointing a chopstick at a piece of salmon.

‘You can have it,’ Ashley said. She took a sip of her sparkling water. ‘How was your morning?’

‘I went to a museum,’ Molly said. She chewed the sushi, her jaw moving quickly. ‘Steam engines. A man in a flat cap told me about boilers for forty minutes because I glanced at a gauge for too long.’

‘Did you enjoy that?’

‘You know me,’ Molly said. ‘Love a good mansplain.’

Ashley looked at the table. A tiny drop of soy sauce had fallen onto the white cloth between them. She took a napkin and tried to dab it out, but it just spread into a larger grey circle. ‘The venue tonight is a big one.’

‘I know,’ Molly said. ‘Toby texted me a photo of the balcony railing. He said he was going to try and do the drum intro to the third song from up there if the tour manager let him.’

‘He won’t,’ Ashley said.

‘That’s what Jax told him. Then they had an argument about it, obviously.’ Molly picked up an edamame bean and cracked the pod between her teeth. ‘They’re still not talking, are they?’

‘They’re talking too much,’ Ashley said. ‘Just about the wrong things. Jax was banging on about the difference between a dynamic mic and a condenser mic to Elena, and Elena already knows. She’s been playing bass for eight years. She just sat there and let Jax do it because she wanted to look at their arms.’