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‘My mum lives here – her house is attached to the bakery,’ he explains. ‘The shop and the kitchen are hers too. I can give you the grand tour.’

‘Can’t wait,’ I tell him – because I can’t. Having access to an actual bakery makes him even dreamier.

I follow him through a back door and into the bakery kitchen.

The smell hits me first. Warm bread, sugar, butter – I swear, I can taste it in the air. It’s the sort of smell that makes you immediately hungry, even though I ate a mini box of cereal (dry) while I waited for Eddy to pick me up. I would have saved myself, if I’d known.

The kitchen is much bigger than I expected, with long stainless-steel counters, industrial ovens and mixers large enough to use as a foot spa. Through an open doorway, I can see the shop. There are glass counters filled with cakes, pastries, sandwiches and loaves of bread – and it’s full of people queuing out of the door, all hoping to buy things before they’re sold out.

‘I can’t believe this is your family business,’ I say. ‘It’s amazing!’

A woman appears through another doorway, presumably from the house. She has dark hair streaked with silver, tied back neatly in a low bun. I know it’s Eddy’s mum right away, because he has her eyes.

‘There you are,’ she says. Her gaze snaps to me almost instantly. ‘You must be Brooke.’

‘Hi,’ I say brightly.

I offer her my hand to shake, but she pulls me in for a hug.

‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ she says, pulling back to look at me. ‘I’m Rachel.’

‘Lovely to meet you too.’

‘We’ve heard so much about you,’ she says, although that can’t be true. ‘Although this one has been keeping you a secret.’

‘Well, you know what he’s like,’ I say, rolling the dice.

‘I do indeed,’ she confirms. ‘And so does his sister. I’m surprised he brought you, given that we asked. I’m so glad you could make it.’

‘Where is everyone?’ Eddy asks.

‘Lauren’s in the living room with the baby,’ she replies. ‘Marco is on a hike today, so you’ll have to meet him another time.’

I’m assuming Marco is Lauren’s husband, but I’ll check that detail later.

‘Have you eaten?’ Rachel asks me.

‘Just some cereal,’ I reply.

‘Oh, then you must both be starving,’ she says, assuming we ate breakfast together, because why wouldn’t we have? ‘Come through, I’ve made lunch.’

We follow Rachel through to the house, into a kitchen with a table all laid out with sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps and salad.

‘Oh, wow, this looks gorgeous,’ I tell her – it really does, and it all looks fresh, like it came from the bakery.

A woman appears in the doorway carrying a baby against her chest. She’s maybe a little older than Eddy, with the same dark hair and strong brows, although she is significantly smaller and freer with her emotions, because she lights up when she sees us together.

‘She’s real,’ she teases.

Eddy sighs.

‘Of course she is,’ he replies. ‘Lauren, this is Brooke. Brooke, this is my sister, Lauren.’

‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ I tell her.

‘You too,’ she replies. ‘And this is Elsie.’

Elsie isn’t old enough to say hi, or see me, I don’t think, but I wave anyway.