Snowy laughed too but Tess reflected that his laugh did not hold much amusement. ‘Tell you what, if you’ll swear on your mother’s life – no, on your gran’s life – that you’ll not go down to Bell Farm, nor let that tedious ploughboy come up here, then I won’t ask you to get engaged,’ he said. ‘Oh, don’t fire up at me and start shouting, because if there was nothing in it you wouldn’t mind promising. Isn’t that so?’

Tess opened her mouth to refute the remark but then thought better of it. During all the time that she and Gran had had the shop, Snowy had been a tower of strength. He had taught her how to balance the books, explained about tax and expenses, contacted suppliers and argued about discounts and prices. Jonty had done his best, but the distance had defeated him, though they had exchanged frequent letters at first. Unfortunately these had got shorter and shorter. Now they wrote probably every other month, and in the course of these letters the name Pamela Davies cropped up quite often enough to satisfy Snowy, or would have done had Tess allowed him to read her letters. But now, seeing the angry flush on his cheekbones, she decided that she was being rather unfair. Secretly, she thought there was little chance of Jonty’s coming up to Liverpool and even less of her going to Bell Farm, so why not give Snowy what he wanted? Alternatively, she could show him the letters, the ones where Jonty mentioned going dancing with Pamela, taking Pamela to the flicks or getting out the Ford to fetch Pamela down to help with the harvest.

All might have been well had she made the offer at once, but she hesitated. ‘If you aren’t willing to commit then we might as well call it a day,’ Snowy said sulkily. And then, apparently on impulse, he leaned across the table, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

Tess gave a startled squeak and pulled back. ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing?’ she whispered angrily. ‘Honestly, Snowy, in front of a whole café full of people!’ She cast a quick glance around them, but no one seemed to be taking any notice. ‘If that’s the way you mean to behave . . .’

Snowy sighed. ‘I thought one of my delicious kisses might make you change your mind,’ he mumbled. ‘Look, I suppose you’ve got a point when you say you don’t want to get engaged until I’m home again. If we both promise to be faithful to the other one then that will have to do for now. Agreed?’