‘She’s of the generation who find it hard to ask for help,’ he said, pulling on his hoodie. It had Longhampton Rowing Club on the front and LLOYD on the back. He also had, Tara knew from various flood-based shifts, a Longhampton Rugby Club polo shirt, a Longhampton Cricket Club baseball cap, and a Longhampton and District Young Farmers’ Club gilet. ‘But I sense she needs to talk and I think you could winkle it out of her.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ she said. OK, so it wasn’t a no, but wasn’t a yes, or a promise. ‘Give me her details.’

Rob smiled. He had nice blue eyes. They weren’t as blue as Phil’s but that was probably a good thing. ‘Thanks, Tara. None of this is going unnoticed, believe me.’

‘I don’t think—’ she started, but was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder and a jangle of bracelets.

‘Tara!’

She turned. Diane had finished ‘catching up’ with Catherine and her grimly set jaw suggested she needed to ‘catch up’ with Tara too.

‘I’ll be in touch,’ said Rob. ‘Night, Diane! Amazing effort on the food bank, by the way – sterling work.’

‘Thanks.’ Diane generally didn’t have time for politicians but even she was sometimes lulled into a smile for Rob. Now, though, her attention was focused exclusively on Tara.

‘Everything all right, Diane?’ she asked tentatively.

‘Not really. I’ve just been talking to Catherine – have you filled her in on who our miracle-building benefactor is?’ She pushed her glasses up her nose and looked at Tara as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was saying.

‘Does it matter?’

‘Yes. Yes, I think it does. She needs the whole picture.’

‘Of what? His qualifications?’ Something righteous about Diane’s fury put Tara on the defensive. ‘I have no idea what he’s like as an architect. But if he was a bad one, I don’t think he’d get much work.’

‘You know what I mean. About what an unreliable, selfish arsehole he is.’

Tara looked round, but no one seemed to have overheard, despite Diane’s rather emphatic delivery. ‘Diane, this isn’t about Dad as a person. It’s about him as a building expert. Troutbridge parish council needs help. Why shouldn’t he be the one to help them?’

Diane tossed her marmalade curls. ‘You’re very naive, Tara. He pops up, out of the blue, volunteering to repair a village hall in a town he hasn’t been in since he walked out twenty-odd years ago. Why’s that? Men like Keith – there’ll be a reason.’

‘Not necessarily. He’s done a lot of civic projects, and he knew about the floods in Longhampton because he was already in—’ As the words left her mouth, Tara knew she’d said too much. Her face was definitely saying too much.