Aaron moved out into the porch. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to practise on Nelson tomorrow? Mum has him if I’m working somewhere I can’t take him, which is much of the time. With Aunt Norma being on that walking frame it might be awkward though. He tends to get up on his hind legs to greet people and might bowl her over.’

‘I could,’ Clancy said impulsively, liking the idea of a bit of a dog-share. ‘The garden here’s secure, isn’t it?’

‘It is. Are you sure? I was half-joking, really.’ He looked from Nelson to Clancy and back again.

She was gathering enthusiasm for the idea though, envisaging walking around the leafy lanes with the big dog beside her and having something – someone? – to talk to in the Roundhouse. ‘Of course! At least, let’s try it. Bring him tomorrow and see if he settles. What kind of dog is he, anyway?’

Aaron regarded his pooch gravely and Nelson flattened his ears and grinned. ‘He looks like a wolf, stands on hind legs like a meerkat and plays on his back like a bear cub. He’s just a Nelson.’ After they’d made arrangements for the next day, Aaron stepped out into the dusky evening and left. Clancy stayed at the door, watching.

She felt a sudden prickle run over her skin. She wasn’t watching the way Aaron’s body moved so easily under his clothes, was she?

No, she told herself, stepping back indoors. She was admiring the grace of her new borrow-dog loping at his side.

Obviously.

Chapter Eight

The next Saturday was the first day of June. Aaron had agreed to drive Aunt Norma to Hunstanton because she wanted to attend a craft fair at the Artisans’ Hall. Dilys and three of her crafting buddies had already cadged a lift with Clancy so they could ‘fleece a few tourists’. Aaron suspected Aunt Norma, a sporadic crafter of handmade cards, would enjoy the gossip with her friends more than the actual business of selling her products. It also crossed his mind that she might welcome the chance to take a look at the latter-day Clancy.

Aaron picked Aunt Norma up at eight-thirty, helping her down the ramp from the annexe, pausing to chat with Daisy and Yvonne, who were going to pick daisies on the clifftop as it was much too early for blackberries. Aaron stowed his great-aunt’s folding chair along with her box of merchandise. He drove the truck out of the village between the chalk cottages with red-tiled roofs, swooping down Long Climb beneath the pines, and queued to turn onto the A149.

‘Dilys says Clancy’s been dog-sitting Nelson this week,’ Aunt Norma began. In his peripheral vision, he saw her glance his way.

‘She kindly offered because I was worried about Nelson bowling you over.’ Aaron managed to pull out into the traffic without risk to life or limb.

‘Seems she kindly offered a lift to Dilys and the others today, too,’ Norma went on. ‘Seems she makes a habit of kindly offering.’