‘Not bad, thanks,’ Holly replied, carefully and neutrally, as if this was just any other exchange with any other passing local.

Charlie’s eyes were friendly, and he was smiling, which was definitely a good sign. He obviously didn’t hold grudges.

‘Have you had a good week?’ he said, glancing towards the open shop door as if checking out if there were any other customers still browsing and buying.

‘Oh, same old, same old,’ Holly smiled, flattered that he’d stopped and not just said hello and moved on. ‘I’ve sold a lot of Himalayan salt crystals this week – I think it’s the spring-cleaning vibe that everyone gets this time of year – people are determined to do a bit of polishing of their auras as well as their houses!’

‘And an aura is…?’ Charlie tried, and failed, not to look amused.

‘The light that surrounds you,’ Holly replied. ‘Skilled readers can work out a lot from the colour of your aura – your thoughts, your emotions and your preoccupations.’

‘Really?’ Charlie tried, and once more failed, to affect a more serious expression, and Holly knew he was taking what she said with a rather large pinch of salt, Himalayan or otherwise.

‘Oh yeah,’ she continued, remembering what Mariad O’Flaherty, who owned the shop a couple of doors down from hers and made a living from reading and cleansing auras, had told her the last time they’d had a conversation. ‘A dark one might indicate health issues, or things on your mind, an inability to let go of something, for instance. It’s a good idea to spring-clean it once in a while.’

‘I’m not sure I want to know how you spring-clean an aura!’ Charlie laughed. ‘Although I’m sure the inhabitants of the Palace of Westminster could provide all kinds of shapes and colours that a reader of such things would have a very interesting time with.’

Holly laughed as well. ‘I can’t see them, personally, but if you were ever interested in having yours read, I can refer you to our local practitioner, Mariad.’ She fingered the sprig of rosemary she’d picked from the pot by the shop door. ‘But enough of that. How are you settling in to life as an MP?’

‘Pretty well, thanks,’ Charlie replied, ‘although the weather’s making us all very sleepy. I dread to think what we’ve agreed to this week in the chamber, and all for lack of air conditioning!’

‘If Willowbury gets a new retail park slap in the middle of it, we know who to blame!’ Holly joked. Then she paused, looking at Charlie properly for the first time since he’d stopped. He still had a hand up to his neck, and now he was up close, Holly noticed his shoulders were tensed. ‘Are you OK? Is your neck sore?’