Drew gave the Carmans a nod and a grin. ‘I’m not bothered if you’re not,’ he said as he took her hand and walked to the other side of the boat, away from their audience.

‘I don’t give a toss about the age difference. I like you. You’re brave and clever, and beautiful and for God’s sake, I fancy you.’

‘Stop. I’m embarrassed now,’ she said. He was over ten years younger than her. She was a granny. ‘You know I fancy you too.’ God, how teenage that sounded, but I find you sexy and attractive and you make my toes curl in pleasure and bits of me tingle that I thought were dead, sounded much worse.

Drew shook his head. ‘We could have slept together that evening after you told me about Hannah. Believe me. I wanted to. It really did take me everything not to kiss you back – properly – and drag you upstairs to bed.’

She squeaked in amazement. ‘Drag me upstairs to bed?’

He winced. ‘Well, you know me. It’s not really my style, but you get the idea.’

She laughed in delight. ‘I’m glad you didn’t do it then – but only just! I wasn’t drunk. Dying of embarrassment but not drunk.’ She winced. ‘Perhaps a little bit the worse for wear …’

‘Only a little, but I held back because after you’d poured your heart out, I thought I’d only be a comfort shag.’

Her gasp turned into laughter. ‘Drew!’

‘Sorry to be blunt. You know I’ve no way with words. I thought you had too much to deal with and if we’d done it then, you’d have regretted it and backed away for good.’

‘Maybe. Who knows? What’s important is that we’re here now and I do really like you, and yes, I want us to get to know each other better. Much better …’ Argh. Even at fifty, it was possible to blush.

He quirked an eyebrow. ‘I sense a “but” and I think I know what kind of “but”. Would it involve family?’

‘I need time to get to know Hannah and Ruby first. I need time to rediscover who I am and be with them. Time to sort my shit out, as they say. It might not take long … but I can’t ask you to hang around.’

‘I can wait.’

‘Not long, I hope, just until I find my feet. I want you to get to know my family too. Not Fraser, obviously.’ She laughed.

‘Perhaps not a good idea.’

‘One day soon though. I couldn’t care less what Fraser thinks. Um. I did wonder, as a start, if you might like to ask Connor to come for a picnic with us the next time he’s in Porthmellow, if he can stand being with a toddler?’