He became aware of Gen’s eyes on him, as if she were reading his mind, seeing and being hurt by his relief, so he hunted for a neutral subject. ‘Clancy, are you starting work tomorrow? It might be a good idea for us to run through things in more detail.’

Clancy nodded. ‘That would be great.’

They arranged a time for first thing tomorrow, Monday, then Aaron and Genevieve said their goodbyes, Nelson stretching and shaking in preparation for leaving.

Outside, the sky had become inky and big drops of rain had begun to spatter the dust of the lane as Aaron opened the passenger door of the truck. ‘Gen, I’m giving Mum a ride to visit Aunt Norma. Fancy coming along?’

Genevieve was standing still, staring up Droody Road towards the centre of the village. ‘I think I’d better go home and examine my insurance policy,’ she said, all signs of her earlier vivaciousness gone.

As he had so often lately, Aaron experienced an uneasy feeling of guilt, which prompted resentment that he felt it. ‘Want me to ask Mum and Dad if you can store your furniture with them if Clancy’s B&B idea works out?’ He winced, conscious he’d called it Clancy’s idea as if to distance himself from it.

She shook her head, still not looking at him and ignoring the rain pattering on the leaves of nearby trees. ‘If the insurance will pay for the B&B then they’ll pay for my furniture storage.’

‘OK. Hop in. I’ll give you a lift home. It’s going to pour down.’ He clicked his fingers to tell Nelson to jump in the back seat. Big, hairy dogs took a lot of drying.

Genevieve did look at him this time. ‘It’s only half a mile. I’ll walk. Clancy’s pretty, isn’t she?’

He nodded, because he’d have been blind not to notice that. There was something in Genevieve’s expression that he didn’t particularly like. Jealousy? Suspicion? He was reasonably certain that he’d never told her about the episode in the darkness of his parents’ garden but had she picked up some lingering vibe between him and Clancy?

She began to turn away, and suddenly he found himself commenting, probably more bluntly than he should, ‘You don’t seem very happy that Clancy might have solved your accommodation issue.’ He hesitated, trying to find a way to put into non-contentious words something that had been bothering him. ‘You’ve always loved your cottage so much. I know it will be a wrench to leave it, even temporarily.’ So why angle to move in with me and make it sound permanent? was his subtext.

She sighed and answered. ‘Yes. But I suppose the problem has made me face things I hadn’t realised existed. It’s ended up being more about my future than about four walls … hasn’t it?’ Then she began striding away from him, her hair flying, head up as if she were confronting something other than the rain on her face. She didn’t offer him a kiss goodbye.