She laughed up at him. He smelled of shower gel or shaving foam and his hair looked as if he’d let the wind dry it. He felt big and firm and delicious. ‘You will not! I’ve only just changed the sheets.’

Nelson rose on his hind legs, turning his head to regard them out of his eye as if to join in the hug, so they broke apart, Clancy telling Nelson he was sweet and Aaron telling him that he was an interfering bloody hound.

They broke for lunch in the kitchen of the Roundhouse, sharing a few bawdy jokes about missing breakfast, then hurried on with cleaning the final cottage, number six. The sun had reappeared, the newly washed village rooftops almost steaming in its heat, and they worked with all the windows open, finishing just in time for this week’s guests to arrive. Aaron stood back, holding on to Nelson’s collar as families tumbled out of cars to claim keys, children high-pitched with excitement, demanding to know where they were going to sleep and whether they were allowed to pat the big doggie, attention Nelson bore with a happy wink of his good eye.

‘I’m exhausted,’ Clancy declared, when she’d shut the Roundhouse door on the last guest.

Aaron cocked an eyebrow. ‘Bed?’

She cocked an eyebrow back. ‘Would I get any sleep?’

‘Not at first,’ he admitted, running a hand up over her stomach and onward to her breast.

‘Later then. I’m all hot and sweaty after rushing through the changeover and I believe you promised me Secret Beach.’

Aaron’s eyes smiled. ‘That was foolish of me.’

They took Nelson home, as it wasn’t reasonable to expect him to swim around to Secret Beach, then strolled towards the cliff path, fingers linked, swimwear beneath their clothes.

Clancy felt drunk with happiness, happier than she ever remembered being before. ‘I feel almost like jumping The Leap,’ she declared as they walked past the last of the buildings and a few people gathered in the afternoon sun on the lawn of the B&B.

‘Let’s do it,’ Aaron suggested. ‘It’s the fastest way to Secret Beach anyway.’

Her heart bounced. ‘Really?’ She remembered the last time she’d begun the jump, before Aaron and Nelson had got in her way, the anticipated exhilaration after watching Harry and Rory fly off the cliff. And Aaron had done it before. The sea had forgotten its irritability of last night and serene blue waves were flirting with the sunlight. ‘Then let’s do it.’

They stripped off their shorts and T-shirts and piled them at the foot of a tree. They picked their way to the cliff edge to check the area below was clear. Clancy shivered with a mixture of nerves and excitement as they backed up, the dry grass scratching their bare feet.

‘Sure?’ Aaron’s dark eyes studied her as he took her hand firmly in his.

Clancy’s heart began to gallop, making her feel queasy. ‘Sure,’ she confirmed bravely, gazing out at the glittering sea.