‘Get away with you, Da,’ laughed Jim through his own tears. ‘You’ll probably outlive us all, you old rascal. How’s the poaching going? Salmon for tea, is it?’

‘Maybe,’ replied Ron with a twinkle in his eye. He turned to Peggy. ‘Is there a chance of a wee drink, Peg? To be sure, a man could die of thirst in this house today.’

Jim was quite overwhelmed with their rapturous welcome, and although he only had a brief moment to admire the stair-lift contraption Rita and Peter had made for Cordelia, he could see that the hall had indeed been given a complete overhaul with new carpet, paint and paper, which made it look very smart. And yet, when he walked into the kitchen to find there was a much bigger window, new lino and cupboards, it was still familiar enough to maintain the homeliness he’d remembered, and he was grateful that Peggy hadn’t gone overboard on the refurbishment.

Peggy must have seen him looking around, for she tucked her hand in his arm. ‘Come and see the rest of the house while Frank sorts out the drinks. I do hope you like what I’ve done, Jim, but I have tried to keep the essence of the house the same – just given it a bit of a facelift, really.’

He grinned down at her and went down to the basement to admire the laundry room and cloakroom, avoiding asking her how much all the changes must have cost. Then he went out into the back garden, saw the ugly bomb site on the other side of the twitten and pulled Peggy to him. ‘You didn’t tell me you were that close to trouble,’ he murmured.

‘There was little point in worrying you, Jim,’ she replied, ‘and we were all quite safe, as you can see.’

Jim kissed her cheek and kept his arm round her waist as he quelled the stab of fear and viewed the garden. The back wall had been repaired, the Anderson shelter removed along with his father’s shed and the outside lav. The chickens were happily pecking in their coop, and his father’s vegetable garden was clearly flourishing.

‘Do you think we could sneak up and have a look at the upstairs without anyone noticing?’ he asked with a wink.

‘I doubt it,’ Peggy giggled, nudging him gently in the ribs. ‘You’ll just have to wait for what you’ve got in mind, Jim Reilly.’

Jim grinned down at her before going back inside, where he was immediately escorted through the rest of the house by everyone in their eagerness to show him all the work that had been done.

‘It’s all grand,’ he said truthfully. ‘My goodness, Peggy, you’ve certainly brought the old place alive again. You are clever.’

‘It’s Ron, Frank and Charlie who are clever,’ she replied happily. ‘They did most of the work – and saved us a pretty penny too.’

He hugged her to him, and then took a turn on Cordelia’s stair-lift with all three little girls on his lap, which slowly broke the ice between him and Daisy, who decided it was great fun to have a daddy in the house.