‘I want to say you’ve thought this through pretty well, but I kind of get the impression you haven’t. Not properly.’

Prue blushed. ‘I did say it was just an idea. To be worked on.’

‘Well, let me get on and finish the grass while I have a think about it, eh? A cup of tea would be nice. And a biscuit, maybe?’

‘You do know I’d have to go up two flights of stairs?’

‘True.’

‘And back down again, carrying hot tea? And me with a poorly finger.’

‘Ah, but a man can’t think well on an empty stomach, and you do want me to think, don’t you?’

‘I suppose I do.’

‘And our Madi must have a tray up there, to help you carry. So … hot and strong, please. And no sugar. I’m sweet enough already.’

She laughed at the sheer cheek of the man. ‘That is such a corny line!’

‘Still made you laugh though, eh?’

Prue went back inside and sorted out the tray of tea and biscuits, carrying it carefully down the stairs and out into what she had trouble making herself call the garden.

‘Ah, lovely, thanks.’ Simon pushed his hair away from his eyes and grabbed the bigger of the two mugs, blowing on the surface before taking a swig. ‘I’ve got a mate,’ he said, ‘that does carpentry. I reckon he could make you a couple of basic benches if that’s what you’re after. Maybe a table or two. It’ll cost you though, even if I ask him nicely and he gives me mates’ rates. And, to be honest, I can’t see my uncle coughing up. He’s not really what you’d call the generous sort. There was an old girl before, used to own a couple of the flats. She might have been more on your wavelength but she died, I think. Not sure who took over, just that my uncle’s mad as hell he can’t persuade them to sell. Not owning the whole place bugs him!’

‘I suppose it would.’ Prue gazed up at the block in front of her, where most of the windows remained closed and the rooms behind them showed no obvious signs of life, although she was sure she saw the edge of a curtain twitch in the ground-floor flat, then just as quickly go still again. ‘So, what else? Any more suggestions?’

‘You’d need some decent paving for under the benches, so you could lose some of the grass, which would certainly make this mowing lark a bit easier for me. And somewhere for that barbecue of yours to sit too. Plants are the easy bit.’

‘I’m biting off more than I can chew, aren’t I?’ Prue sipped at her tea and lowered her gaze to the mangled lawn beneath her feet. ‘Stupid idea …’

‘No, it’s not. And I can see where you’re coming from, but you’re going to need to get a few of the others … well, preferably all of the others … living here to get behind it, if you really want something done.’