The freezer was bounteously stocked with local speckled pollock, orange spotted plaice, and mackerel. Annie’s mind began whirring with meal ideas. After years of creating recipes and cooking for the masses and for Max, she finally had the time to cook just for herself. By the time she’d finished her shifts at the Pomegranate Seed, she didn’t have the energy to cook. So, while her customers enjoyed her bouillabaisse or venison in red wine with shallots and dauphinois potatoes, Annie would often wind up with beans on toast. No more; she was done putting herself last in line. Just because she was by herself didn’t mean she wasn’t worth the effort.

The kettle was whistling furiously by the time she emerged from the cellar. As she pulled a chintzy mug down from the shelf, she noticed a yellow exercise book with A Guide to Saltwater Nook handwritten across the front and then below, in a different pen but the same hand, For Annie. She finished making her tea and took herself into the sitting room.

Leafing through the book, Annie saw that Mari was nothing if not thorough. In addition to the instructive Post-it notes that dotted every switch, appliance, and cupboard, she appeared to have handwritten a manual, which advised and informed of tasks that needed to be done month by month around the building and garden to ensure the smooth running of the place in winter. The book opened with a letter, stuck into the first page with a square of sticky tape.