Then Dilys popped out of number two wearing jaunty flowered trousers and a beaming smile. ‘Hello, dear! It’s been quiet without you. The washing machine at number five broke so I let them use mine, though it beats me why people want to do laundry while they’re on holiday. Aaron got the engineer here this morning so at least the new guests tomorrow will have a working washer. Fancy a cuppa?’

Instantly, Clancy felt in the swim again, welcomed by the details of village life, absorbed into the fabric of the place. ‘That would be lovely. Shall we have it in the garden? It’s a gorgeous afternoon.’ She turned her face to the breeze and took a good lungful of the now-familiar briny air. Whatever happened or didn’t happen with Aaron, for now she could relax into the feeling of being home in Nelson’s Bar, enjoying the simple pleasure of a drink with a neighbour. Feeling welcome and at home.

Chapter Seventeen

As Aaron left the Roundhouse behind, glad of the shade in leafy Droody Road, he decided not to tell Harry that it was Clancy he’d been waiting to see. Harry was obviously expecting a quarrel at home and that was of more immediate importance than Aaron’s eyes being continually drawn to Clancy’s glossy hair and bright eyes, the way the wind blew her top against her body.

Eighteen Harry might be but Jordy … well, all Harry’s age meant to Jordy was that it was time he went to university. Aaron would do his best to support Harry, though Jordy, a holder of strong opinions he never hesitated to share, was perfectly capable of telling Aaron to butt out.

He stopped suddenly, realising his thoughts had carried him past the junction with The Green, the enclosure of carrstone cottages arranged around a square of grass where Rory lived. The boys had paused to talk quietly. Then, patting each other’s shoulders in a gesture that wasn’t quite an embrace, they parted, Rory heading off past a rambling rose bush of delicate pink tumbling over a wall, abuzz with insects in the late afternoon sun. Harry wore a scowl as he caught up with Aaron. They walked on together in silence to Trader’s Place.

The front garden of the Drew family home was full of fuchsias, the dainty pink and purple flowers dancing in the breeze like ballerinas while a tangle of Russian Vine rioted up one corner of the house. Harry brushed past and threw open the side door to the house, letting it bang against the wall. He might as well have bellowed, ‘Warning! Teenager in a strop.’

Jordy and Anabelle hurried out of the kitchen and met him in the hallway, Jordy wearing a pugnacious expression – which matched Harry’s.

Anabelle, face creased with anxiety, got to their son first. ‘What made you take off without saying anything like that? I was worried to death! Are you all right?’ Her words hurried over each other as she pulled him in for a big hug, having to stand on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.