I could get the sauce on before he arrived if I worked fast. I chopped the onions and put them on to soften while I crushed garlic and cut the salami into rounds. I put the garlic and the salami into the saucepan with the onions and turned down the heat, giving the fragrant mixture a quick stir. I roughly chopped the tomatoes and left them on the chopping board while I ran down to the yard to get rosemary. I had just broken off a couple of fronds when the doorbell rang. I went to the gate and opened it. Davy had been expecting to be buzzed in from upstairs and my sudden appearance surprised him, though he said nothing at first, then:

‘Hey, how’s it going?’

‘I was getting herbs,’ I said.

I waved the rosemary at him in greeting.

‘I … I mean, hello, hiya, em, come in.’

But Davy made no move and I wondered if he’d changed his mind.

‘It’s dark here in the lane,’ he said. ‘You should get one of those security lights. If I didn’t know where the door was, I’d have a hard time finding it.’

‘That’s the idea.’

That came out all wrong. It sounds like I didn’t want him to find me.

Silence. Then Davy spoke.

‘What you said in the text. Well, I’m sorry too, you know. I shouldn’t’ve just gone off like that on Sunday.’

The sleet had turned to drizzle and my white shirt was getting soaked as the two of us stood in the circle of light cast by the garden lamp. I felt the buzz between us. It was always there, that electricity, but it seemed stronger now.

‘I missed you,’ I said, after a time.

I turned to walk into the house, afraid I’d said too much. And then I felt Davy’s hand on my shoulder and turned back to him. We were centimetres apart, and I looked up into his eyes, and he looked down at me. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me.

‘I missed you too,’ he said instead.

I could hardly breathe.

‘Now where’s me dinner, missus?’ he said.

I laughed. And caught my breath.

‘Caveman,’ I said, heading for the stairs, Davy following along behind.

‘I try,’ he said.

He was laughing too. It was going to be all right. But something had changed between us, though I didn’t yet know what, or how much.

Upstairs, I threw the chopped tomatoes in on top of the salami-onion-garlic mix and stirred it all together. I used a mezzaluna to chop the rosemary spikes, and added them to the saucepan along with a little sea salt, a few twists of black pepper and a pinch of sugar. Then I put a pot of water on to boil and put some of the washed leaves into a wooden salad bowl.