I sat in my armchair, sipped tea and mulled things over. I had four vacant work slots at the moment. Chloe Berkeley-Smythe was on the high seas again and wouldn’t return for several weeks. I’d lost a gardening job, due to a client moving away and I hadn’t replaced Verbena Clarke. Maisie had her daughter Janet coming to stay, so she wouldn’t be requiring my time just now. I could give those four half days to Nick.

I rang him next morning, not having achieved much in the way of sleep. ‘I will help you get the shop ready to open,’ I told him.

I heard him chuckle down the line. ‘I knew you would.’

This made me want to slam the phone down on him straight away but I persevered. ‘There are conditions,’ I warned him. ‘First of all, you do no more selling on for Russians … or any other nationality for that matter.’

‘I promise,’ he said dutifully.

‘No more dodgy, back-door customers,’ I went on, remembering Piano Teeth.

‘No, no, no,’ he assured me.

‘Secondly, you pay me for all my time.’

‘Of course, Juno.’ He tried to sound offended. ‘What you think?’

‘And once it’s open, I am not giving up my work to sit in your shop all day, waiting for customers to come in. That job is yours.’

He began to speak but I told him to shut his mouth and wisely he complied.

‘I’ll redecorate inside,’ I went on, ‘but only if you get a professional painter to do the outside and repaint the sign properly.’

There was a pause. ‘OK,’ he agreed.

‘And we will need to get someone to shift the really heavy stuff out before I can start painting the walls.’

‘Paul,’ Nick said instantly. ‘He do it.’

It was my turn to pause. ‘Paul may not be around. Since his baby’s been born he’s up and down to Nottingham a lot.’

‘I ask him.’

‘OK,’ I said.

‘OK,’ he said.

And I put the phone down, knowing I’d made a horrible mistake.

I was right. It wasn’t until Nick’s shop was cleared of all the furniture and junk that I realised what a huge area it was. I fitted in painting when I could but there was so much paintwork. The doorway, and the big windows on either side of it promised to be days of work, what with rubbing down, undercoat and gloss. And then there were the walls.