‘It’s okay, no one was hurt. Maybe a couple of singed insects, but we handled it.’ He stepped forwards, stopping a couple of feet away so that it was up to me what happened next. ‘If I ask if you want a hug will you run away from me again?’

I gave a watery laugh. ‘A hug would be really nice, thank you.’

‘Purely platonic, of course,’ he added, wrapping me up in his arms.

Speak for yourself, I couldn’t help thinking, buried against his chest, my forehead resting in the dip above his collarbone. His warm, earthy scent had become so familiar, it was like coming home.

Sam suggested fish and chips. ‘It’s high time you had a proper tour of Bigley,’ he said as we strolled back towards the village, the dogs crashing about in the undergrowth beside us.

‘I’ve lived here for over three months; I know my way around.’

Sam shook his head in mock disgust. ‘You know the shops and the library. The dog park. You’ve not scratched the surface of the real Bigley Bottom.’

‘It’s a village less than a mile long, and half as wide.’

‘Yes, but what about its hidden depths?’ He raised one eyebrow, trying and failing to appear mysterious. ‘Or should I say, hidden bottom.’

When he looked at me sideways like that, one side of his mouth curled up in invitation, I had to wonder why I was bothering to argue.

The tour of Bigley’s hidden bottom turned out to consist of Sam’s old primary school, where we sneaked through a gap in the fence at the back of the enormous playing field that all the kids knew about and the teachers pretended not to, despite half of them having gone to that school themselves. Sam proudly showed me where he’d had his first kiss, promptly followed by his first punch in the face, because back then he’d not yet learnt to ask permission first.

‘Speaking of kisses…’ he said, jabbing at his haddock with the wooden fork. ‘I owe you an apology.’

I kept my eyes on my chips, trying to ignore the flutter in my belly. We were sitting side by side on the grass, and I was suddenly hyper-aware of his arm, only inches away from mine. ‘No, I’m the one who needs to say sorry. It was rude to leave you standing there.’

‘You’ve been completely upfront about your commitment to stay single until your list is completed. I disrespected that, and you, by what I said.’

I nodded. Not that I agreed with him, but it was easier than trying to speak.