‘Hmm?’ He blinked as if woken from a dream. ‘Oh, hi, Tilly. What did you say?’

‘I asked if you’re hungry.’

‘Not really. I had a cuppa at the camp. And lunch too, so that’s fine. Look, do you think you could cut my hair tonight? It’s a bit shaggy, don’t you reckon?’

Tilly was a little surprised, for this was normally Sophie’s task carried out on a Sunday, but she considered the question. ‘I expect so, if you’re happy with short back and sides?’ She had regularly cut Gerry’s hair and that of any of the fishermen who had asked while they had been in the camp. ‘It’ll be hand clippers though, nothing fancy.’

‘That’s fine. Sophie,’ he confided, ‘does a sort of pudding basin job. I thought you might make a better fist of it. Just not too short, please. It’d be great if you could do it after tea.’ Seeming to feel the oddness of the urgency, he added lamely, ‘It’s driving me mad at the moment.’

‘Okay, then.’

When the washing up had been done, Tilly took a sheet from the linen chest and told Luke to bring a chair out onto the verandah. Moths were circling the light bulb and the breeze from the river nipped at her bare ankles as she parted his dark hair and pinned a section of it up.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Checking for nits,’ she teased, ‘and dandruff. Thankfully you don’t seem to have either. So, how short do you want it?’

‘I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea,’ he said. ‘Look, nothing too drastic, eh Tilly? More a tidy up, like.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ve done this before. Since when have you worried about your appearance anyway?’

‘Well, a feller doesn’t want to look a freak,’ he grumbled.

‘Your birds won’t mind,’ she said lightly as she combed and snipped, then the penny dropped as she made the association. ‘Oh, so that’s why you were late home! How long is she staying?’

The back of his neck reddened, then he laughed. ‘This is your famous female intuition, is it?’

‘Huh-uh. This is a young man acting out of character – it can only mean you fancy some girl. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. How about I put some extra cake in tomorrow’s smoko? You could ask her to share it then.’

‘That’d be great. Not that I’m saying . . . I just like your cake, Tilly.’

‘Course you do. Right, keep still if you value your ear.’

The following morning, as Tilly handed Connor his thermos and packed lunch, he surprised her by asking, ‘D’you ever get a day off? I’m heading down to the coast today. I wondered if you’d like to come for a drive?’