She shrugged. ‘I’m not so sure any longer. Me changing jobs seems to have, I don’t know, annoyed or upset him. Lord knows why, but some people seem to like pigeonholing folk . . . Like life is static, when it’s anything but. The world would fossilise if it wasn’t always changing, and that includes people.’ Tilly took a bite from her sandwich, chewed and swallowed before adding, ‘It might just be that he liked his meals well cooked and on time, and his washing done for him. None of which is happening now. Well, too bad. It’s quite ridiculous that most men don’t learn to look after themselves. I haven’t met one yet that didn’t eat.’

‘Hey, don’t look at me.’ Connor put up his hands. ‘I make a mighty mean curry, and I can do you an omelette, and whip up a rice pudding as well.’

‘It’s more than Gerry could,’ Tilly said. ‘He was hopeless. He could barbecue – if you didn’t mind meat with third-degree burns – and make the coffee, and that was about it.’ It was easier to speak of him now that she knew he still lived. ‘Of course, he always had a cook on the boat – my step-dad did too. It’s a full-time job running a fishing boat, so you couldn’t cook for a crew as well.’

‘Could your stepfather cook?’

‘I don’t know,’ Tilly said blankly. ‘Isn’t that odd? I never thought about it. Mum did all the meals – she topped her class in domestic science at school. She always said that she wasn’t clever but she could cook. She had me wrapped in a pinny, standing on a box at the table and mixing things for her when I was five. I could make a souffle by the time I was ten. I loved it when it was just us at home in the kitchen, especially in winter.’

‘She certainly succeeded in passing on her skill,’ Connor said.

Tilly smiled and inclined her head. ‘Why, thank you, sir. You know, I think Mum might’ve gone on to become a chef if she hadn’t fallen pregnant with me. She had such a feel for the chemistry of food. It’s funny, isn’t it, the things that can happen to turn your world upside down? She wanted a career, my mum. Whoever it was who said life was uncertain was dead right.’ Especially in her own case. In the still place in her heart, Tilly heard again the echo of once and hastily gulped down the rest of her tea. ‘I suppose we should be getting on?’

‘Yes.’ Connor seemed to be turning something over in his mind. ‘I imagine you’re going to tell your cousin and the others about the cave?’

‘Well, naturally. Why?’ She shot him a quick look. ‘Is there some reason I shouldn’t?’