An hour later, he pulled the Jeep down into the heart of another cove further up the cost than Hawke’s and into a car park looking out over the sea.

Once again, he opened her door, Lily knowing enough to wait for his act of chivalry this time, and oddly touched by it.

‘My lady,’ he said, gesturing her towards an old pub that banked the harbour.

Dusk was beginning to fall, and the lights inside the small building looked inviting. Now that she was technically kidnapped, she supposed it would be churlish to refuse. Especially after everything Henry had done for her today.

They walked into a small low-slung snug and were greeted by the soft smell of ale and firewood, despite the lingering warmth of the summer’s day. Background conversations from the pub drifted over her gently and as she sat at the table Henry had pointed to, she heaved a sigh of relief and tiredness.

She looked about the room: the walls, perhaps once white were slightly yellowed with age and what was probably nicotine stains, brass jugs and various seaworthy paraphernalia hung on the walls, little nooks and crannies were wedged with tables and patrons huddled together over their drinks or meals. It was so cosy, she couldn’t help but smile. Warm and inviting, the smell of the food was surprisingly good and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. Suddenly famished, she reached for the plastic-covered menu on the table.

Henry returned from the bar with a glass of sparkling water for himself and a gin and tonic for her. She frowned. ‘I’m not sure I should be drinking on an empty stomach.’

‘It won’t be empty for long. Besides, a G&T won’t hurt you.’

‘How did you know what to get me?’ she asked.

‘I … it reminds me of you.’ He shrugged self-consciously. ‘Besides, what self-respecting Englishwoman would ever turn down a G&T?’

‘Why does it remind me of you?’

‘The juniper-and-gin-cured salmon at your restaurant,’ he explained as she took an appreciative mouthful and smiled. God, that was good. ‘Can I ask about the name?’

‘The Sea Rose?’ He nodded in return. She took a breath. ‘When I came back from London, I was a bit of a mess. I couldn’t have stayed there after Alistair, I just wanted to be home. But I’d left before finishing the culinary college and didn’t really have a plan. That’s when Blake came to me with the idea of the herb garden. The first herb we planted, having cleared the space, was sea rosemary. It had always reminded me of Dad, because the trawler he worked was called the Sea Rose.’

‘So The Sea Rose,’ Henry concluded.