‘I’ve finished prepping all the walls in the spare room. Thought I’d better make a start in here as it’s the biggest room,’ he told her one Saturday afternoon. He’d started pulling up the worn-out carpet in the living room.

‘This is going to be the hardest so far, I think,’ she said.

‘I reckon you’re right there.’ The rubber backing had turned to mounds of black dust. Instead of underlay, there were sheets of yellowed newspaper which had imprinted blurred lines of words onto the grey tiled floor.

‘I’ll get changed and give you a hand. Tea?’

‘Please.’ He rolled the carpet up and vacuumed.

When Maddy came back, she’d changed into cut-off jeans and an old button-less shirt she’d tied in a knot at her slim waist. She’d wrapped her hair up in a red checked scarf and tied a bow on the top. For God’s sake, did she realise how sexy she looked? She left the tray of tea on a chair and knelt on the floor.

‘It says here that on 20 March 1983, Prince Charles and Princess Diana began their royal tour of Australia. Must be around the time my parents moved in. I remember Mum saying there were no carpets.’

‘These nasty tiles instead.’ Max jabbed a flat-head screwdriver under the corner of one. ‘A hell of a job to get these up. See how gluey they are? No wonder your parents carpeted over. You might want to do the same.’

‘I don’t mind leaving them. What about wooden flooring?’

‘Yeah, they’d go over the top, would look great. Last longer too.’

‘Let’s do it then. I want to transform the place.’ She sat back on her heels and sighed. ‘Living here has always felt like living in the past.’

He nodded, gulping down a mouthful of hot tea. ‘Not good to live in the past, is it?’ He gazed out of the window at a flock of starlings. This was his chance to move on too, forget about the family of sharks that ruined his life.

‘Talking of which, you’ve not told me much about yourself,’ she said interrupting his thoughts.

‘Nothing to tell. Parents died in a plane crash when I was ten years old. Gran brought me up. Been living in and out of digs since she died when I was fifteen.’ He watched her face crumple in sympathy.

‘That’s terrible. Don’t you have any other close family?’

‘Not that I know of. Cousins in Canada, I think. I was fortunate to get on a building and decorating apprenticeship. It set me on my way. I’ll build my own house one day.’

‘I can see you doing that.’ She smiled and pointed a knowing finger at him.

She seemed to believe in him more than he believed in himself. He put his mug back on the tray.

‘So, what’s next in this room?’ she said.