‘Hi, it’s me,’ he said. ‘When you pick up this message, can you please get in contact? I’m back at the pub.’ Then, feeling some explanation was needed: ‘Tubb said I could bring Hayley back here so she’s got someone nearby to help when she needs it.’ Hell, that wasn’t the right explanation. ‘She’s in the other guest accommodation,’ he added quickly, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Hayley at all because some subjects were definitely best dealt with face to face. He looked for a way to start recording the message again but Lily’s network evidently didn’t support it. Before he could add, ‘Are you OK? I miss you,’ the end-of-message beep sounded.

Crap. If he rang back to leave another message thinking of her would sound like such an afterthought.

Mood low, he ironed a couple of shirts and a pair of trousers then went down to go through things with Tina. It was hard to keep his mind on the staff rota, beer temperatures and line flushing when he just wanted to talk to Lily.

When he got back upstairs, feeling a certain relief in having attained an hour’s normality before cooking something for his and Hayley’s dinner – a sentence he hadn’t known he’d ever think again – he realised he’d left his phone in his room.

Lily had rung. He listened to the message. Her voice was quiet and neutral. ‘I hope Hayley’s progressing well. Do give her my best wishes. I hope you don’t mind not getting Doggo back today because I’m out this evening and he’s with me. He’s being a good boy. I didn’t think his enormous dog cave would fit in my little hatchback so I used his seatbelt harness.’ Then, after a pause, ‘Bye!’ The message ended.

For several seconds he stood in the centre of the room that had been home for the past few months, weighing the phone in his hand, wishing that Hayley hadn’t needed his help. For her own sake, of course, he wished devoutly that she’d never developed cancer and needed a mastectomy, the effects of which he could only try his best to understand.

But he was selfish enough to wish she’d never needed his help. That very real need was tricky to balance with what he’d begun in Switzerland with Lily.

The fact that Lily seemed to have withdrawn from him wasn’t helping one bit.

He thought about calling her back. Maybe now would be a good time to mention that when the Hayley crisis was over he was reconsidering his decision to leave the village. What had begun with Lily in Schützenberg was too good to just throw away and he was sure he could arrange—