Awkwardly, she kept herself covered by clutching the fabric together while he slid buttons through buttonholes. ‘This is killing me,’ he murmured, seeing his fingers shake as they worked, which at least made her giggle and, he hoped, would make her forgive his state of arousal if she looked down at the front of his trousers.

He resituated her sling and gingerly she slid her hand back into it. ‘Thank you.’

He thought about saying, ‘My pleasure,’ but decided it might not be the moment, got her a glass of water and her next dose of painkillers to leave by her bed and plugged in her phone to charge where it was within her reach. ‘Ring me if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch in the morning.’

He left her to climb into bed on her own. There was a limit to his self-control. And he’d reached it.

Chapter Eleven

The five hours of sleep Isaac grabbed felt far less. When his alarm went off at seven he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, knowing he had a lot of ground to cover.

When he dressed and took Doggo out, jogging to give the grinning black-and-white animal the most exercise in the shortest time, he found that December had swept into Cambridgeshire, whitening Middledip with frost that glittered like a Christmas card. Ears nipped by the chill, he jogged across the playing fields and over Port Road to the bridleway that brought him out in Little Lane, then joined Main Road at The Cross and hurried back to the pub. Doggo, the most accepting of canines, trotted happily alongside, utilising the flexibility of the long lead to arrange his sniff stops and attend to business.

They breakfasted in the kitchen, Isaac on granola and Doggo on Bakers’ Meaty Meals, then Isaac began on the business of the day. He recorded Lily’s accident in the accident book and took a long look at the staff rota spreadsheet, frowning over how to cover his absence. He received a text from Lily: Did you mean it? Got a lot to organise today …

Decoding that by ‘it’ she meant driving to Switzerland he replied: Yes, and ditto. Will see you shortly but have to sort stuff with Tina and Mr Tubb.

He rang Tina first, crossing his fingers that she wouldn’t mind being disturbed at nine a.m. on a Sunday when she’d been suffering a heavy cold. Beginning with an apology, he laid out the situation.

Tina sighed when he’d finished. ‘Well.’ She sighed again. ‘We can’t let them down, can we? They’ve worked towards it for months and it’s not Lily’s fault. I can come back to work today and then cover your absence. I’ll sleep over in the other guest room while you’re gone.’