The dogs set off a melee of barking as they arrived, and Joan let them out, so Cormac and Lissa were both pawed half to death.

“Oh, good, good,” she said, noticing immediately. “Always good to mate outside the pack.”

Lissa and Cormac were both so startled, they laughed in surprise.

“Anyway, also good, I have a puppy available soon. You two can have it.”

“Um, we’ve literally just met,” said Lissa.

Joan waved her away. “Are you telling me I don’t know anything about the natural world? Oh! Speaking of which.” She peered at Lissa. “You know I said there were no nursing jobs?”

Lissa stared at her.

“Wait, you asked?” said Cormac, beside himself.

“No!” said Lissa. “Well, maybe. Just an inquiry. Um, I wanted a puppy.”

“How much midwifery experience have you had? Ever since you English started invading, there’s babies all over the place. They’re hiring a community midwife.”

“Oh,” said Lissa, her face falling, “that’s not what I am.”

“You could manage, couldn’t you? Also there’s occasional lambing. It doesn’t say that on the ad, I’m just telling you that there is, round here.”

Lissa shrugged. “Not really.”

Cormac looked thoughtful. “Well,” he said, “there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. There’s an outreach project in London . . . helping people on the street. They’re looking for part-time. It would mean I’d be looking for a job share.”

“You’re kidding,” said Lissa. “Oh my God, I could kiss you.”

Cormac blushed. “Would it be a wee bit forward to invite you into my hoose?”

“I’ll have to go with you anyway,” said Lissa. “I don’t know how to unblock your number from my phone.”

“Good,” said Cormac. “You’ll just have to stay very, very close by.”

BOTH OF THEM were trembling as they stood in the little cottage in front of the fire, which Cormac admired, which made Lissa feel rather proud. It was so exciting, frightening, and strange all at once. He put some music on and moved a little closer to where she was standing at the sink, filling the kettle for tea. Lissa didn’t want any tea; she just didn’t know what to do with herself.

He moved even closer behind her. “Is this okay?” he said in a very soft voice, and she nodded, without quite being able to turn around.

“Normally this should be late at night and we should be very drunk,” complained Lissa. “That’s the English way. And the Scottish way, I have observed.”

Cormac smiled. She could feel him towering over her, smell the almond shampoo. He took his left hand, put it around her waist. She stood stock-still, and, very gently, he bent his shaggy head and kissed her on the nape of her neck.

“See, this way,” he said gruffly, “you still don’t need to see me.”