When we had finished dinner and spun out two cups of espresso apiece, what seemed like a long time but also a matter of mere minutes later, he drove me home. Darkness had brought no relief from the heat; if anything, the night seemed even more oppressive than the day that had gone. Neon adverts and shop signs bled colour into the bruised air and the day’s noise lay trapped under the weighty sky.

‘What a hell’s kitchen,’ Mr Rainbird murmured, as he tried to nose the bonnet of the Morris into an unrelenting stream of traffic coming at us from the left. I was well fed and relaxed with red wine, and I watched the shops and houses and cars sliding by with calm detachment.

I had told him that Jack didn’t yet know who I was out with and he sighed, signalling dismay and also definite disapproval, but when we reached home he parked the car a tactful distance from my front door. He switched off the engine and the lights and we were left cocooned in the smell of creased old leather as the ticking and whirring sounds of motorised action gradually subsided. A memory of Ted’s Ford Consul floated into my head but I closed my eyes and dismissed it. Mr Rainbird took me in his arms and kissed me.

It was a nice kiss. I hesitated and then I kissed him back. Our tongues touched and seemed to match. I relaxed, but what I began to feel was the opposite of relaxation. I put my hand on his arm, then moved it along his shoulder until my fingers touched the nape of his neck, under his surprisingly soft hair.

It was Mr Rainbird who pulled back. When I opened my eyes I caught the glimmer of his smile. ‘I think we should call it a night, Ms Thompson.’

Anxiety and pre-embarrassment crawled along my spine, and I sat upright. Had I misread the signals after all?

Then I saw that he was teasing me, but with affection and also a definite shading of regret. He had a better sense of time and place than I did, that was all. ‘Too old for snogging in the car?’ I smiled.

‘Nope. But, you know.’ He nodded in the direction of my house.

‘Yes. You’re right. Thanks. And thank you for a wonderful evening.’ I meant it.

‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ he said.

He sat there until I reached my doorstep. I waved to him and slipped my key into the lock.

The hall lights were all off, but I knew at once that there was someone watching me in the darkness. ‘Jack?’