By the time they finally parted he’d only time to say, ‘Will I see you tonight?’ as he opened his back door, half of his mind already on the day ahead.

‘I have the interim Parish Meeting about broadband and the website at eight,’ she reminded him. She was standing in his kitchen with Nelson’s lead in her hand and Nelson staring fixedly as he waited for her to connect the lead to his black leather collar.

‘I’d forgotten. I’ll see you there.’ He blew her a kiss and hurried out to his truck to raid his stash of cereal bars to breakfast on as he drove the few miles to leafy Holme.

A day of slog followed as he tried to get the stonework for the water feature finished so the lime mortar that held the stone together could be going off in the next day or so. Mrs Edge was ultra-conscious of the Holme conservation area and had commissioned him to build her water feature of the same materials as her house – red and white chalk or ‘clunch’, mixed with flint. Getting the mix of the three stones right was vital, because he sure as hell didn’t have time to knock it apart and start again if she wasn’t happy. He’d got the hole in the ground dug, and the mound for the waterfall lined with sand and a waterproof liner before the weather turned wet.

It was past seven when he drove back into the village, pleasantly exhausted but content in the knowledge that Mrs Edge had approved her several-stepped waterfall and pool with shining eyes. Tomorrow he could get the planting done around the stonework and then on Friday afternoon he could call in to fill up the pool and set the pump so the water would splash gaily down the waterfall.

Nelson was there to greet him when he got home, though there was also a note on his kitchen table in Clancy’s flowing handwriting. Took Nelson to Old Hunstanton beach for a good walk this morning. Cxx

He gave the big dog a fuss, knowing how he liked to be appreciated when they’d been parted for several hours. ‘The beach, eh? Lucky old dog!’

Nelson put his ears back and panted, tail waving.

‘I’ll feed you before I go out,’ Aaron promised as he stuck a chicken leg and a jacket potato into the oven to cook while he went up to shower away the dust of the day. ‘The meeting should only take an hour.’

In fact, the meeting must have speeded by as it was almost over by the time he arrived at Megan’s house, going around the back to find the French doors open to the warm evening. He entered with a whispered apology.

He could see Clancy sitting at the front. It seemed she’d already said her piece as Megan was summarising the action to be taken now the Village Committee had voted to consult a company Clancy had unearthed who provided broadband via platforms on church spires as there seemed no realistic hope of major providers seeing Nelson’s Bar as a commercial proposition.