‘Wow. Hang out the flags,’ Lauren says sarkily. ‘Wonders will never cease. You’re actually going to get him away from that bloody canal bank for a couple of days.’

‘He’s not that bad.’ But I know that he is.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Cromer.’

Lauren pauses, fork to mouth. ‘Not again!’

‘We like Cromer.’

‘I like eggs, but I wouldn’t want them for every damn meal. You always go to Cromer.’

‘Greg’s comfortable with it.’

‘I could give you a list as long as my arm of great little weekend getaways all over the country. Name me a place – any place, go on – and I could tell you of a bijou hotel there.’ My sister, due to her dodgy relationship, is indeed the doyenne of the dirty weekend destination.

‘We’ll stick to Cromer, I think.’ It’s a miracle that I’ve got Greg to agree to going away at all without three months’ notice. I don’t want to push my luck.

‘I was going to come up at the weekend. I’m sick of being on my own,’ Lauren complains.

I nearly invite her to come with us, but realise that it wouldn’t be quite the point for me to drag my sister along. Plus if Greg thought that Lauren was free, he’d try to wriggle out of coming himself.

‘Come on Friday,’ I say. ‘We’re only going overnight. We won’t leave until Saturday morning.’

‘We’ve got a bit of a bash for work on Friday night. A rallying the troops kind of thing. Jude will want me to be there, partnering him.’ That dreamy look has come back into her eye at the mention of her lover.

Do I go all dreamy when I talk about Greg? I suspect not. Though I’m sure I used to, once upon a time. Perhaps that’s the difference between being a husband and a lover.

‘We’ll catch up next week,’ I say. ‘I can tell you all about my mucky weekend.’

‘If you do insist on going to Cromer, then take plenty of sexy lingerie,’ she says. ‘That’s my advice, sis.’

A smile plays at my lips. I think I might well give that one a try.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Greg attached the float to his line. The water was slow today, so he chose something light. He cast out and let the plumb bob settle on the bottom of the canal to check the depth of the water. Then he adjusted the line until the float popped out of the water and settled serenely on top.

‘Woo, hoo!’ Ray shouted out. ‘Watch this and weep, matey.’ He then landed another perch – his second in a matter of minutes. Nice fish. A couple of pounds, possibly three.