‘This is where I spend my time when I’m here,’ she said, breathing deeply, ‘just tidying and tucking in, checking for disease and, as summer progresses, plucking off leaves to let the sun get to the grapes. It’s very calming. I used to bring Wiser with me, our – I mean my – old chocolate Labrador, but it’s too far for him to walk these days, but I don’t mind; I’m used to solitude. I heard you worked in a crematorium before coming here, so you must be used to peace and quiet too?’

‘It was rarely quiet and although there was sadness, mostly there was a lot of love. It was quite a special place, actually.’

She sighed wistfully. ‘There’s love here, too. Ted lavished it on all his vines, now it’s up to us to do the same.’

I wrapped a springy tendril around the wire and tucked the end in.

‘I’ll do my best,’ I promised.

We headed back uphill towards the house after I’d seen all I needed to for now. Some of the vines were a little overgrown and I made a mental note to draft an action plan for a major prune as soon as I had the chance.

‘So what do you do when you’re not working here?’ I asked.

‘I’ve been the librarian at Fernfield library for ten years.’

‘That long?’ I laughed with surprise. ‘You don’t look old enough.’

She nodded. ‘I started straight after my A levels. I was a shy girl, bookish, not brave enough to leave home. The job in the library was a natural fit. I’ve never seen you in there, though.’

I laughed. ‘I never really got into books. I was always a doer rather than a reader.’

‘I envy you,’ she admitted, tucking her hair under her hat. ‘I’ve done nothing with my life; I live vicariously through my books.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said, sweeping my arm out to encompass the vines as we arrived back at the gate. ‘This doesn’t look like nothing to me.’

She gave me a reserved smile but didn’t elaborate. She struck me as the sort of person who could sit next to you on a long-haul flight and never strike up a conversation. I couldn’t even stand in the ten items or less queue at the supermarket without spilling my life history to the poor person behind me.

‘Does the library have any books about vineyards?’ I asked.

‘Oh yes. We have an entire shelf on viticulture.’ Pippa eyes sparkled. ‘In fact, that’s how Ted and I met. He came into the library and asked that very question. But you don’t need to borrow books from the library. Ted has collected books from all over the world – ask Betsy if you can borrow some.’