Hannah began heating soup while Nan gave Nico and the girls directions on setting the dining table. ‘The one in the kitchen doesn’t have room for us all.’ She observed the obvious warmth and love between Nico and the girls. Happily child-free till now, for the first time she wondered if she’d been missing out.

After a jolly meal, Hannah checked her bank account and saw the second thousand pounds had arrived from Cassie Carlysle – bloody Albin’s money still hadn’t arrived – so she said, regretfully, ‘I have to go up to Carlysle Courtyard.’ She grabbed her laptop and paperwork, eager to get the handover done now she’d been unceremoniously dumped.

Soon she was driving past the cheerful yellow and green Carlysle Courtyard sign with a pang. She parked and found Simeon awaiting her in the office. ‘Right,’ she said crisply, glad she didn’t have to deal with Christopher again or even Cassie. ‘I haven’t had time to prepare this handover so we’ll have to wing it.’

‘Of course. I’m very sorry about this, you know.’ Courteously, Simeon pulled out a seat for her.

It was an empty apology because he could have refused to comply with Christopher reinstating him. ‘Thanks,’ she said, briefly. ‘Bullet points: by the weekend, all the shops will be trading; the Christmas Opening is on the nineteenth.’ She worked through everything she’d slaved over, sharing contact details and her and Nico’s beautiful spreadsheets, then the extensive scheduled social media posts. ‘That’s it,’ she wound up an hour later. ‘You have the log-in details. Posters and flyers need to be distributed. If you have any questions you can text me.’ She scribbled down her phone number.

Then she realised Simeon was gazing at her, a small smile playing around his mouth. ‘Anything else?’ she queried, poised to drag on her coat and shake the dust of Carlysle Courtyard from her boots.

‘Fancy dinner this evening?’ he asked.

She gaped. ‘With you?’

‘There’s a lovely old mill bistro opened near Bettsbrough. Shall we give it a try?’ He smiled boyishly.

It was a perfectly pleasant invitation but it rankled that he didn’t bother to thank her for her hard work and making the handover so easy for him or acknowledge the impact on her income of his return. ‘Thanks, but I’m busy,’ she said, snapping shut her laptop.

He edged closer. ‘Choose your evening.’ He didn’t make it a question.

He reminded her overwhelmingly of Albin – born in comfortable circumstances and regarding ordinary girls as playthings. ‘Good luck with Carlysle Courtyard,’ she said. And left.

Chapter Eighteen

Back in Middledip, she found Nan watching TV and flopped down beside her on the sofa to catch her up on the disheartening events at Carlysle Courtyard. ‘So I won’t be working there any more,’ she concluded with a sigh.