‘It looks worse than it is,’ Hannah assured her. ‘People with the right tools and know-how will get rid of those splodges of plaster and paint in no time, and then they’ll clear up the yard and the drive. In four or five days you’ll be able to move your display stands in. Some of you might be trading ahead of the official opening.’

‘You must have a magic wand,’ said Teo. He gave Perla a big exuberant kiss.

‘But I have to vanish now and get lunch for my nan.’ Hannah checked her watch and leaped, energised, into her mum’s Volvo.

At home, over lunch, she told Nan all about her morning. Nan gave her a one-armed hug. ‘You’re one of life’s “doers”, duck!’

The afternoon flashed by in a welter of telephone conversations and emails, Hannah organising information and identifying unpaid bills or vital tasks missed. Then, at just after four she received a call from Christopher Carlysle.

His voice was clipped. ‘Before you get too carried away, I think we ought to talk.’

Hannah hesitated. It felt like a pivotal moment, one where she could definitely cause friction and offence. Or she could forge a better understanding.

‘The Carlysle Estate has belonged to my family for years,’ Christopher began icily.

Hannah took the opening. ‘Mrs Carlysle explained that when she said you’d asked her to deal with Carlysle Courtyard and she engaged my services.’

It was Christopher’s turn to pause, probably absorbing the fact that contradicting Cassie’s instructions might rebound on him. ‘Obviously, as my wife—’ He halted again.

‘I’d hate to upset her,’ Hannah said, musingly, not exactly telling Christopher that it wasn’t appropriate to talk to him without Cassie’s say-so … but not exactly not saying it either.

Another silence. Then he said, grimly, ‘I’ll call in at the site tomorrow or the next day. See you then.’

‘I look forward to it,’ Hannah agreed, relieved to have hopped a hurdle without crashing into a dirty great ditch on the other side. She returned to work. And when she checked her bank account she saw that a thousand pounds had been deposited from Carlysle Estate. Yesssss!

By five, she took a break and realised they’d almost run out of teabags. Nan drank gallons of the stuff. ‘I’ll pop to Booze & News,’ Hannah said, pulling on her coat. She skipped out, head full of Carlysle Courtyard’s potential to provide a challenge – and income – with a mixture of on-site and remote working, exactly suited to the Nan situation.