She tied Paddy up outside, and pushed open the door to see Harry sitting behind the counter. A broad smile broke across his face.

‘Harry,’ Jo said. ‘What are you doing working at this time? You’re supposed to finish at teatime!’

Well past retirement age, Harry was determined to work in the shop for as long as possible. However, after he scared his friends on Ivy Lane senseless by having a heart attack, right there behind the counter the previous summer, they had badgered him into slowing down and hiring help.

He smiled. ‘Lucy is running a bit late. So I’m staying on. And, sure, it’s quiet anyway. I just tell people where to find stuff and they do it. They do most of the work for me. I might be old, and I might have a dodgy heart, but even I’m capable of using a till without doing myself an injury.’

Jo knew better than to argue with Harry. His health scare hadn’t cowed him one bit and his stubbornness was legendary.

‘You know we just worry about you, Harry,’ she said, as she scanned the shelves of chocolate and sweets.

‘I know you do. And I appreciate you for it, but there is no need. Besides, I have some very exciting news,’ Harry said.

Jo looked up from the Crunchies and Flakes and noticed that the smile on Harry’s face was as broad as she’d ever seen it. ‘Well, are you going to tell me or just sit there grinning?’ she asked him.

‘My grandson Lorcan’s coming to visit! He’s going to stay for a month or two.’

Much had been said about Harry’s solitary grandson in the past. He was, she thought, in his mid-twenties, lived in England and, from what Jo could tell, behaved like a spoiled teenager. Harry had talked about his love of computer games and his collection of Star Wars toys with incredible fondness as if Lorcan were a schoolboy and not a grown man. But what had turned Jo against him most was that he hadn’t come to see Harry when he’d had his heart attack.

Of course she would never have said to Harry that she didn’t think much of his beloved grandson, but her opinion was quite clear-cut.

‘That’s lovely news,’ she said, with a fake smile plastered on her face. ‘And he’s staying for so long? That will be nice for you. Is he thinking of moving here then?’

Harry shrugged. ‘I don’t know, to be honest. I just know he’s had a relationship break-up and wants to get away for a bit, so it seems natural that he comes here.’

‘Does he not have a job over there that would miss him?’ Jo asked, and immediately regretted it. She didn’t want Harry to think she was judging Lorcan, even if she was.