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‘We’re going to be totally plastered if we drink all of that!’ I say to Ed.
‘I wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for, so I thought I’d better cover all the bases,’ he replies. ‘Would you like to stay out here until the food comes, or would you be happier inside?’
‘Out here, definitely. It’s just so beautiful. Thank you so much, Ed, for organising this. It’s the nicest thing anyone has done for me in ages.’ I walk over to him and give him a kiss on the cheek, before settling myself at the table.
‘You mean, besides the whole “free holiday in Antigua” thing that your parents did?’
I laugh. ‘Yes, besides that I suppose.’
At seven thirty there’s a knock on the door and Ed goes to open it. A waiter appears with a trolley and two plates covered with cloches. He silently places them on the table, lifts off the cloches with a dramatic flourish, and then leaves, shutting the door behind him.
‘Smoked salmon, prawn and cucumber mousse, served with lemon, shell-on prawns and salmon caviar,’ Ed announces, reading off the menu. ‘Does that sound OK?’
My stomach is rumbling in anticipation. ‘That sounds fabulous. Thank you.’
‘And what would you like to drink?’
‘I think, as you’ve gone to all this trouble, it would be rude not to have a small glass of champagne, don’t you?’
Ed smiles and adopts a French accent ‘An egg-zellent choice, mademoiselle.Permettez-moi. I mean, allow me.’
He busies himself with the bottle, and I watch him. He’s obviously done this a few times before as the foil and wire cage are off in moments, and he pops the cork without spilling a drop. He pours some out for each of us and we start to eat.
The mousse is the most delicious thing I think I’ve ever eaten. It’s light, but you can taste all the main ingredients, and it goes beautifully with the champagne. I’m a little daunted by the prawns, so Ed takes them and shells them for me, before passing them back. I notice we each have little finger bowls with tiny towels next to them for cleaning our hands. They really have thought of everything.
Some time after we’ve finished our starters, the waiter appears again. He takes away all the debris and places two new plates in front of us. Once again, the cloches are removed with a little flourish. Once again, Ed reads from the menu.
‘Cannon of lamb glazed with rosemary and mustard, served with Parmentier potatoes, roasted vegetables and a red wine jus.’
It smells amazing. ‘I hate to be wasteful,’ I say to Ed, ‘but I think I’d like to change to a little bit of red wine to go with this.’
‘Good idea,’ he replies. He takes my half-empty champagne glass and places it on the side, replacing it with a fresh one into which he pours some red wine, and then repeats the process for himself. The lamb is beautifully tender, and I sigh with pleasure as I bite into it. The wine is big and bold, and goes very nicely with the lamb. I make sure I’m only having small sips as I don’t want to get drunk. I want to savour, and remember, every moment of this beautiful evening.
As we eat and drink, we talk about our childhoods. I learn that Ed grew up in Somerset, where his parents have a large house with substantial gardens. His father was a corporate lawyer and made a lot of money before retiring early ‘while I’m still young enough to enjoy it’. There was never any pressure from his father for Ed to follow in his footsteps, but Ed found he was interested in the law, so decided to make a career out of it like his father had. I can sense his admiration for his father, but I get the impression that they’re not particularly close. He’s obviously devoted to his mother, though. Both he and his sister went to boarding schools, but their mum used to send regular food parcels, and would make sure that she cooked their favourite foods on the night they got home at the end of each term.
I tell him about growing up, about school, and how our lives changed as my father’s business got more successful. He asks about Simon, Emma and the girls, and I tell him about the puppy, and how Emma and my mum are thick as thieves.
‘Does that bother you? Do you feel like she’s edging you out?’
‘No, not at all. I love her to bits. She’s one of those people who it’s almost impossible not to like. Plus, she’s been around for so long she’s practically a sister to me.’
I tell him about Mads. ‘She sounds like a feisty woman,’ he remarks. ‘I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of her!’
‘She is a force of nature, certainly, but she’s incredibly kind in her rather direct, no-nonsense way. Sometimes I want to kill her, but she’s my best friend and I know she’s got my back.’
When the waiter reappears with our puddings a while later, it's so obvious what they are when the cloches come off that I don’t need Ed to read off the menu again.
‘Chocolate fondant!’ I exclaim. ‘I bloody love this!’
I press my spoon into the sponge and, as I cut it in two, the filling oozes out. It’s rich and smooth, especially when I add a little bit of cream from the jug on the table.
‘Mmm, God, that’s good!’ I exclaim, with my mouth full.
Ed looks at me and laughs. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who enjoys her food as much as you do!’
‘Ah well, if you could see what I was forced to live on for the last couple of years with Josh, you’d understand.’
When we’ve finished, I retrieve the glass of champagne and go back to leaning on the balcony rail. The alcohol has softened everything nicely, but I’m still in full control of myself. I look down at the tables on the beach. Most of them are occupied now, and the waiters are working hard. Ed comes and stands next to me again. Automatically I reach out my hand and take his. We stand there for a long time in silence.
