When they’d all left, and Lucas had gone next door to deal with some work he needed to do before returning to LA, and just as Naomi was wondering how best to raise the subject with Ellis, he had brought it up himself.

‘Do you think I should say something to Lucas?’ Ellis had asked.

‘And say what exactly?’

It was a good question. In the end they decided that the problem, if indeed there was a problem, would simply fly home with Lucas. Once or twice since then Naomi had been tempted to say something to Willow, but she knew her youngest daughter of old; she wasn’t a deliberately flirtatious girl, she was just naturally friendly, with an engaging personality. Naomi hoped that Rick saw things the same way.

After putting the fireguard in place, Naomi went to wash her hands. That done, she decided to make a start on peeling the vegetables for supper that evening. Then she remembered that Ellis had offered to cook.

She was still getting used to the idea of somebody else cooking for her. Colin had never cooked unless it was out in the garden with the barbecue. Even then Naomi would have to marinate the meat or fish and prepare the salads and desserts. But Ellis loved to cook and had added some of his own kitchenware to the cupboards in her kitchen.

Not her kitchen, she reminded herself, it was their kitchen. Just as Anchor House was their home now. But with her name on the deeds, she had to wonder if Ellis ever felt that he was no more than her guest here. Was that the real reason he had bought Waterside Cottage – the purchase of which had now gone through – to have some kind of ownership? Would it be better if she sold Anchor House and they bought somewhere else together?

No, she wasn’t ready for that.

It seemed an age ago when Martha had suggested that Naomi should move to be nearer her and Tom. There had been no more talk of her selling up from either Martha or Willow. Had Naomi misjudged her eldest daughter’s motives? Had Martha been genuinely concerned for Naomi’s welfare, living alone as she had been, and did she now regard Ellis as a good thing in her life, somebody to take care of her? At the time when Martha had wanted her to move, Naomi had felt horribly patronised, as though she was being dismissed as a doddery old dear who couldn’t be trusted to live alone, but who would be ideal for on-the-doorstep childcare.

Ironically, now that grandchildren were definitely on the way, Naomi could see the sense in living nearer to Martha and Willow. But then she would think of how much fun it would be having her grandchildren to stay here at Anchor House, playing with them in the garden and on the beach, and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. How could she ever live without waking up to the sound of seagulls, of being deprived of a walk along the shoreline and bringing home an interesting piece of driftwood, of breathing in the salt-tanged air, or never having the joy of watching a redshank digging in the mudflats. And her garden – her glorious garden – she couldn’t imagine giving that up. Although common sense told her that one day it would be too much for her, just as it had been for the previous owners. But for as long as she was in good health, and Ellis too, this was where she wanted to be.