A long silence. Aaron gazed out of the kitchen window with a distant stare. ‘I belong here.’

She drifted towards the door, her bag hard across her chest like a shield. ‘What do you think happens to people who haven’t lived all of their life in one spot, who feel they don’t belong anywhere? Do they just keep moving from place to place? Forever? Or do they find somewhere they like and feel wanted, and call it home?’

Clancy didn’t wait to see his reaction. She gave Nelson’s turned-over ears a rub and let herself out into the late afternoon that smelled of salt and the honeysuckle climbing a trellis on the cottage wall. She didn’t pause to admire the sea today but continued steadily out of the garden and onto the lane where sunflowers had grown tall enough in the sunshine to gaze over garden walls.

On Monday morning Clancy packed a small case and threw it in the boot of the BMW, still determined to tie up the ends of her old life, even though she got an unpleasant twirl in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of it. Tracey had said she could sleep in her spare room, but Clancy had opted for a hotel. It would be neutral territory, and if Tracey hadn’t got rid of Clancy’s wedding dress yet then it would definitely be creepy to sleep in the same room as it.

She was touched when Dilys and Ernie came out to say goodbye.

Dilys gave her a hug and a fruitcake. ‘Drive safely, duck.’

Ernie stood back, looking glum. ‘Can’t we have a slice? Her fruitcake’s delicious.’

Clancy suddenly wanted to spend another half hour in the village. ‘Shall we have a cup of tea too?’ She’d built in plenty of dawdling time on the journey.

The cuppa and cake seemed to cheer them all up and Clancy wrapped up the depleted cake, waved to Dilys and Ernie as they vanished back into their respective homes, and made a second attempt to leave.

This time she was delayed by the sight of a male figure loitering by her car, silhouetted by the sun. For an instant her heart tingled, but then she saw how youthful the figure was and realised it was Harry. Like looking for the other magpie, she glanced about and spotted Rory sitting on the grass verge with a couple of backpacks. He got up and dusted off his shorts when he saw Clancy, his gaze fixed on her apprehensively.

‘Hi, guys!’ She expected they’d come to ask whether she’d talked to Aaron for them yet and she could spare another few minutes to reassure them that she had.

Harry, hands in pockets, shuffled closer. ‘Aaron said you’re going to London. Will you give us a lift?’

With a sudden rush of foreboding, Clancy glanced at the backpacks again. ‘I’m not coming back till Friday.’

‘That’s OK,’ Harry shot out.

Clancy gazed at Harry and Rory. Then at the backpacks, which, now she examined them properly, looked to be bursting at the seams. ‘You’re not running away, are you?’ she asked in rising alarm.