He returned his gaze to the interior. ‘My first job was in a department store chain as an assistant account manager. My training took me through various departments and I worked with an outstanding merchandiser – what people call a window dresser. We saw each other for a while. She was stellar, like she was personally in charge of the rainbow. I used to go in on my days off to learn about texture and bold form from her and I was nearly tempted into a career change. Let me loose on your stock. People will be drawn in, I promise.’

Conscious of the jumble of scarves, handbags and belts, she protested, ‘You’re seeing it at its worst.’ But she desperately wanted the shop’s first Christmas to be a success and getting the place sorted before eleven was a big job. Even without Albin-issues on her mind she sometimes felt dissatisfied with the look of Hannah Anna Butik. She knew she could display stock well but was she ever magical? The kind of ‘magical’ that would open purses and wallets?

Nico nudged a box of wallets with his toe. ‘If you don’t like it when I’ve finished, you can tell me what you want instead and I’ll redo it. What are you leading with? Something with a good margin?’

‘Åberg leather.’ She dragged the Åberg box forward. ‘They provide a display schematic—’

He took the goods, ignoring the schematic, then produced a palm-sized speaker from his coat pocket. ‘I brought music.’ He tapped his phone and an Imagine Dragons track leaped into the air. He hung up his coat and started pacing.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

‘Looking at the space.’

Apparently surplus to requirements and feeling like a cat who’d had her fur stroked the wrong way, Hannah packed the pastels and delicate materials of summer into the stock room beside her office – where ‘office’ meant ‘cramped room with a table and a corner for tea making’.

As she trekked back and forth, Nico stood at various points on the shop floor and stared hard, his head marking time as Imagine Dragons gave way to Yungblud. He frowned at the coils of belts and rivers of scarves then went outside and, regardless of the ice-edged wind whirling his hair into his eyes, stared at the window space.

Finally, he collected the display stands, racks and hooks in the centre of the shop. This left two shelves on each long wall, one interrupted by the window. He glanced at Hannah. ‘Do you have a clean duster?’ When she’d provided one, he methodically wiped down the shelves and displays. Hannah made coffee and Nico detached hooks from a counter stand and fixed them at precise intervals onto the wall shelving. Then he started placing handbags on the shelves.