“And what does he do now?”

“He’s a landscape gardener. He loves the outdoors.”

“He’d probably get on well with Celeste,” said John.

Lord alive! thought Annie, I wouldn’t let Peter within ten feet of Celeste, he’d probably just try and get her into bed. But she smiled and said, “Yes, probably.”

“Right, let’s get this place lit up!” said John, drying his hands on a tea towel and grinning. There was a boyish excitement about him that Annie couldn’t help but smile back at.

Together they went outside—the cold was like a slap against Annie’s skin, the spiky chill finding its way beneath her tea dress and inside her Fair Isle cardigan. John made some final adjustments before darting back inside to flick the switch, and Saltwater Nook lit up with amber ghouls and pale skulls grinning out into the darkness. Annie gasped.

“It looks great!” she called out as she made her way back to him. “I think we should leave it like this permanently.”

“We?” John smiled; one eyebrow rose.

“I,” corrected Annie. “I should leave it up permanently.”

“It’s a bit macabre for Christmas, don’t you think?”

“All right, then. But I’ll leave them up till after bonfire night.”

“That sounds like a plan,” said John.

John switched on the inner Halloween lights, while Annie put tea lights inside the jack-o’-lanterns and set them outside on the patio tables, their spooky carvings glowing out toward the black sea. Annie looked along the promenade and saw lots of little lights bobbing along in the darkness as the procession made its way slowly toward Saltwater Nook. Annie’s heart leaped at the sight of it, and she ran inside.

“They’re coming!” she called, breathless with excitement. “I’ve just seen them, they’re at the end of the prom.” She was smiling so hard she could feel her mouth stretching.

She looked up to see that John was laughing quietly at her.

“Oh, shut up!” she said, though her smile didn’t dim.

“I’m sorry.” John chuckled. “It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever seen an adult so excited about Halloween.”

“It’s my first Halloween party.” Annie smoothed down her dress and raised her head in the air defiantly.

“What? Ever?”

“My parents didn’t believe in celebrating evil.”

“Blimey! And I thought my family was weird.”

“Shut up and help me get the spuds into bags,” said Annie.

Together they scooped hot crispy roast potato cubes into little paper bags and lined them up on trays to be dished out to cold grown-ups. The sweets—of which there appeared to be thousands—were tipped hastily into two large plastic cauldrons and a giant plastic pumpkin head.

“Wait one second,” said John, disappearing out into the hallway.