‘Fine,’ I agreed. ‘I don’t like him either. But it doesn’t matter. All I have to do is make sure he does a good job with the photographs.’

‘He’s shifty.’

‘Maybe it’s nerves. He’s not done anything this big before. I think he’s hoping it will help his portfolio.’

‘It won’t help yours if he cocks up.’

‘Yes. Thank you for that insightful comment,’ I snapped.

‘Sorry. I didn’t mean…’ He ran a hand back through his hair, the soft black waves parting as he did so. ‘I just don’t want him messing anything up for these two after the first debacle and… I know how hard you’ve worked on this and what it means to you, in more ways than one.’

I nodded. ‘Yes. I know. And I appreciate all of that. I just need to keep an eye on him.’

‘We.’

I looked up at him and a small smile curved my lips, a feeling of warmth curling its way through my body at the sincere tone of support issued in that one word.

‘We,’ I agreed.

* * *

‘There you are, now.’ Maria O’Malley came hurrying towards me as we returned to Lorcan’s family home having seen the photographer and done our best, unsuccessfully, not to judge him. ‘I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to greet you properly yesterday. The perils of being a grandma. Always on call for emergency babysitting.’ I could see now where Lorcan got his eyes and smile from. His mother’s smile, however, seemed far more easy when I’d thanked her for opening her home to me at such short notice, especially around the Christmas period.

‘It sounds like you have quite a big family, so I’m sure the last thing you need is to be having me under your feet right now.’

‘Oh no, no. I love some company, don’t I, darlin’?’ she said, looking up at her son and picking a bit of fluff from his jumper as she did so. ‘Although from what I hear from this one, I doubt I’ll be seeing much of you, which is a shame as I’ve heard so much about you.’

‘You have?’ I asked, looking round at Lorcan.

‘You were a new face in the village. People like to talk.’

‘About what?’

Again, he gave a shrug.

‘Helpful,’ I said, giving him a tight smile.

‘Oh, just ignore him.’ His mum patted my arm and steered me to a chair near the Aga. ‘Have a seat here now and tell me all about yourself. You’ll have a tea, won’t you?’

I opened my mouth to reply.