‘Nice to meet you, Ollie. Welcome to Bigley Bottom.’

‘I did have a better plan,’ I explained, as we tried and repeatedly failed to angle the frame out of the bedroom door. ‘I’d paid for the old bed to be taken away, and the new one delivered upstairs. The delivery man just dumped it and ran before I’d opened the front door. I tried asking the neighbours for a hand, but, well… they’re either working, eleven years old or not feeling very helpful.’

His brow wrinkled in sympathy, producing the sudden need to clarify that I wasn’t a sad, sorry loner with no one to help me move a bed. ‘I mean, I could have asked a friend, or family, but it’s a bit of a trek out here. I’m trying to prove I can manage by myself, so I thought I’d improvise. Be resourceful.’

‘Who are you trying to prove it to?’ Sam gave the frame one final yank and it scraped through the doorway, taking a strip of cracked paint with it. We began walking it down the tiny landing to the top of the stairs.

‘Oh, everyone, probably. My mum, and aunt and uncle. My best friend. The kids who snubbed me at school. The guy I was in love with who ended up marrying someone else because of my interfering mother. Myself, mostly.’ I squinted at him through the springs. ‘Sorry, that was an overly deep answer from someone you’ve just met.’

‘I asked,’ Sam grunted as he started lowering the bed down the first step. I focused my attention on the matter in hand, not his straining arm muscles. ‘And I can totally relate to needing to prove yourself. When I left the family law firm to become a forest ranger, my family were all waiting for me to come crawling back. Three years later, I still don’t think they’ve accepted that I’m happier doing something I actually enjoy.’

We bumped a few more steps down.

‘Oh, and we haven’t just met,’ Sam added, once he’d nearly reached the bottom. ‘I saw you out walking, a couple of weeks ago. Your friend asked for directions.’

That nearly caused me to drop the bed, which to be honest wouldn’t have made much difference. I’d been doing my best to take as much weight as I could, but it was more of a token gesture than genuine support. This kind man had remembered me from a random encounter! That was enough to nudge me dangerously close to a crush.

Which was a terrible idea, even if I hadn’t recently signed a No-Man Mandate. Even if a man this lovely was miraculously single, men like Sam weren’t interested in women like me. Time to shut that nonsense down before it had a chance to get started.