Paddy was lolling on the grass, having given both the squirrels and the birds a run for their money. The sun was warm and they’d taken advantage of the dry weather to sit on the grass overlooking the river. Jo and Lorcan sipped from the water bottles they’d picked up in the café at the centre of the park as they listened to the noise of the children playing in the nearby playground carried on the wind.

‘He likes to run,’ Lorcan said, stating perhaps the most obvious thing that had ever been stated. ‘And he can get up to some speeds.’

‘He does. I don’t need a gym membership when I get to walk Paddy most days. He keeps me fit. Does Scraps not enjoy a good run through the park?’ Jo asked.

‘Erm, he’s more a gentle stroll, completely pampered kind of a dog. I swear Sophie would’ve bought him one of those dog buggies if she could’ve gotten away with it. She might have now, for all I know,’ he said, and Jo couldn’t help but notice the sadness in his eyes.

‘A dog buggy?’ she asked, as she tried to lighten the mood.

‘Yeah,’ Lorcan said. ‘It’s a pram for dogs. There’s a dog carrier thing instead of the seat.’

‘You’re having a laugh!’ Jo replied.

‘I’m really not!’ Lorcan protested. He took his phone from his pocket and Jo clocked that his screen saver was a picture of a rather attractive blonde woman holding a small, rather tatty dog, who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world. Sophie and Scraps, she assumed. But she didn’t speak or mention that he still had his ex’s picture on his phone. Maybe he just wasn’t ready to move on yet. She could understand that, she thought, as she averted her gaze as quickly as possible.

A few seconds later, Lorcan was waving his phone under her nose with a picture of a small dog in a pram-like contraption.

She shook her head and laughed. ‘I can’t imagine we’d get Paddy here to fit in one of those.’

‘No, I don’t think you would and I don’t think he’d let you,’ Lorcan said, as Paddy looked up, eagerly wagging his tail. Having heard his name mentioned, he was determined to get as much attention as he could.

Jo reached out to pet him just as Lorcan did the same, their hands brushing momentarily. She pulled back as if she had been shocked.

Another moment passed, a moment in which she wondered if Lorcan had felt it too, but then he spoke as if nothing had happened.