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tussle with Rocky. Mathéo has always loved this house. So warm and snug. So small and cluttered and messy. So very different from his own.
    ‘Sit down, sit down,’ Jerry urges him as Lola disappears upstairs to change. ‘I got off work early so I thought I’d be a good dad and do some baking.’
    ‘Thanks, it smells great but I’m not really hungry.’ Mathéo holds out a hand in an attempt to restrain Jerry from passing him a piece of apple pie.
    ‘You’re looking undernourished as usual,’ Jerry counters, taking no notice and pushing the plate towards him. ‘You need fuel for all that training!’
    ‘Hardly.’ But he sits, breaks off a small piece of burned crust and surreptitiously feeds it to Rocky, salivating expectantly under the table.
    ‘Dad, it starts in ten minutes!’ Lola rushes in with her handbag, narrowly missing Mathéo’s plate as she dumps it unceremoniously on the table. ‘I’m sure your pie is divine but I really want to get good seats for once, so can we please go?’ She rushes over to the oven and turns off the heat. ‘Daaad! One of these days you’re going to burn the house down.’
    Jerry intercepts her at the fridge, holding out a spoon. ‘Just a taste. I made it from scratch from the new recipe book you got me.’
    Glancing at Mathéo, Lola shoots him a long-suffering look and reluctantly accepts the mouthful. ‘You’re force-feeding Mattie too?’ she exclaims indistinctly, her mouth full. ‘Aargh, Dad, that burned my tongue!’ She strides over to the sink and bends over to drink straight from the tap.
    ‘Do you think it’s a bit overcooked?’ Jerry carries on blithely, ignoring his daughter’s antics. ‘I’m worried I left it in the oven too long.’ He takes a bite himself.
    ‘I think it’s delicious,’ Mathéo assures him.
    ‘Mattie, stop being polite! Would you please just tell my father to get his butt out of here?’ Lola implores.
    But Mathéo is quick to raise his hands with a small laugh. ‘Whoa, you know I never take sides between you two.’
    She scowls at him. ‘Coward.’
    With the help of Rocky, Mathéo manages to finish his slice, watching the interaction between father and daughter with customary amusement. Lola and Jerry have a relationship like no other he has seen before. They are mates, partners in crime. Mathéo’s own parents always comment that Jerry allows his daughter to do as she pleases – run wild and have whatever she wants – because he is trying to make up for the loss of her mother, but Mathéo doesn’t agree. For the majority of Lola’s life, it’s just been the two of them, and so they seem to have formed a bond so strong it sets them apart from the rest of the world.
    Mathéo’s parents tend to dismiss Jerry as a hippie – and no doubt he once was – but now he is more of a middle-aged rocker. Former lead singer in quite a well-known band, Jerry seems to have passed his talent down to his daughter. The two of them are passionate about music – seventies rock in particular: David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones . . . Jerry and Lola even have a little band of their own: Jerry composes and plays the drums, Lola plays the guitar and sings.
    But over and above their shared passion for music, what Mathéo has always found remarkable about the two of them is the way they interact. It helps that Jerry is laid back and that Lola is not known for her wild streak, but they share a camaraderie usually only found between best friends. Sometimes it seems as if Lola is the adult – reprimanding her father for leaving his camera gear lying around or for shopping for ready meals. Materially they aren’t wealthy – Lola is at Greystone on a music scholarship, and he knows Jerry struggles to pay the mortgage out of his salary as a freelance photographer – but on the other hand, when Jerry receives assignments he gets to travel the world, usually taking Lola out of school for days at a time,