They walked through the grounds together and Kevin walked right up to the back door with him.

‘There’s really no need to cling like a limpet.’

‘I prefer to make sure you’re safe. That’s what you pay me for.’

The door opened and Jez stepped inside.

Kevin smiled grimly as he walked away. It was being ultra-cautious escorting Jez next door, but he still felt guilty that someone had got through their old security system and terrorised him. Trouble was, there was no such thing as a perfect system. Whenever people had an input into running something, systems could go wrong.

He swung round, thinking he’d heard a rustling in the foliage, but a bird flew out, so he carried on, locking the wooden gate carefully behind him.

Jez pulled Sophie into his arms. ‘I can’t believe we have the whole night together.’

‘Isn’t it wonderful?’

Her eyes were shining with love; there was no other word for it. When they went into the kitchen, she had a meal almost ready to be served.

‘We’re getting to feel like an old married couple,’ he teased.

‘It does feel comfortable being together,’ she admitted.

‘Yes. And you never seem to be in a bad mood. Do you ever get grumpy?’

‘I’m not a moody person. Are you?’

He frowned, trying to work it out. ‘I don’t think so. Not nowadays, anyway. In fact, if we could just sort out the person threatening my life, and settle Tom’s affairs, I’d be extremely happy.’ He told her about Gail’s accident and disappearance.

‘That’s dreadful. Do you think she’ll be coming after the children?’

‘Who knows? I’ve never met the woman, so I’m no judge. Tom says she’d never hurt them, but from the sounds of it, she’s fixated on getting him back and may try to use them to do that. And people don’t always think or act rationally when they’re under the influence.’ He stared into space for a moment or two, then his smile returned. ‘Let’s change the subject. We don’t want to spend the evening talking about other people’s problems.’

‘What do we want to spend the evening doing, apart from eating?’ She went to check something in a slow cooker.

He followed and peered into it. ‘That smells wonderful. I’m getting very fond of home cooking.’

‘Do you want a taste?’ She offered him the spoon.

He forced himself to concentrate on the food, taking it slowly off the spoon and savouring it. ‘Delicious.’

When they sat down to eat, it felt like the scene from an old movie he’d seen, where both characters were feeding each other more than food.

‘Tom Jones,’ she said suddenly.

‘Yes. I was just thinking about that scene.’ It was an effort to raise his fork to his mouth.

She smiled, such a smug smile he asked what was amusing her.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever had this effect on anyone before.’

He didn’t ask about her husband. Comparisons with other relationships were not a good thing. He’d learned that the hard way. ‘It’s a wonderful effect,’ he said simply and held her gaze as he slowly lifted his fork again and moved his mouth around the piece of meat.