Holly cast around for something, anything, to keep this moment going a little longer. ‘Look, er, about what happened earlier… I feel really bad about you being in that situation.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Charlie said. ‘It wasn’t your fault. Although Arthur might not be getting any catnip from me for a while!’

‘I don’t blame you!’ Holly laughed. ‘So, I’m cooking dinner for Mum and Dad at their place on Sunday. Their kitchen’s a million times bigger than mine, and I do it about once a month. Rachel and Harry usually come over too. Would you, er, like to come over and have lunch with us? By way of an apology for Arthur’s poor behaviour?’

The minute she’d said it, she felt herself blushing at the absolute dorkiness of the invitation. Asking him for a drink at the local pub on the High Street would have been a far more sophisticated and grown-up option. Why the hell had she invited him to lunch with her parents? He looked surprised by the proposition, to say the least.

‘You know what, don’t worry, it’s a stupid idea. You’ve probably got loads to do anyway, and we should maybe just forget this whole thing happened—’ She hated it when she babbled.

‘Holly,’ Charlie cut over her monologue calmly, ‘I’d love to. It’s been ages since I’ve had a proper Sunday lunch. In fact, I don’t think I have had one since I got this new job. It would be a pleasure.’

‘Oh, OK. Well if you’re sure,’ Holly said. ‘And I do cook a mean roast lamb!’

‘Really?’ Charlie asked. ‘I was expecting some kind of vegan nut roast.’

Holly grinned, realising immediately that he was teasing. ‘And why would you think that?’ she asked, pretending to rise to the bait.

‘Well, I mean this place… I just kind of assumed that being vegan was all part of the package.’ Charlie shook his head. ‘Shows what I know.’

‘Sometimes you can’t put everyone into neat little boxes,’ Holly chided. ‘Much as I’m sure you’d like to as a politician. Things aren’t always that clear-cut.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Charlie replied. ‘The more I find out about this place, the more it confounds me.’ He was warming to the subject, she could tell. ‘I mean, you couldn’t get two more different towns than Willowbury and Stavenham on the face of it, and yet they expect their MP to navigate between them effortlessly.’ He shook his head. ‘There’s more to this place than meets the eye.’

‘And there you were, thinking it was going to be all crystals, hippies and ley lines!’ Holly teased. ‘It’s a bit harder than you thought, is it?’

‘Like you wouldn’t believe.’ Charlie admitted. ‘In fact, I find myself having sympathy for Hugo Fitzgerald at times.’