‘We’ve got a special parking permit down in the boatyard,’ she answers. ‘Dad’s got a boat so we’re really lucky. Parking’s terrible here, especially in the summer.’

They walk together past the car park, along to the boatyard and Amy indicates her car.

‘Dad’s got the van today,’ she tells him. ‘We share the car. It works very well in the main. Now you’ll have to direct me. OK?’

‘It’s a barn conversion round the head of the creek,’ he tells her. ‘There are steps up to the garden but I have to take the car in from the lane at the back.’

‘Yes, I know what you mean,’ she says. ‘There are quite a few of those around here.’

‘I could go in and bring him down the steps,’ suggests Cosmo, ‘but perhaps you’d like to see the barn?’

‘Yes, I would,’ she answers. ‘It’s always interesting to see how they’ve been converted. It might have been one Dad worked on. I deal mainly with the holiday flats and cottages in the town but Dad sometimes works on bigger projects.’

She drives away from the creek, up the lane, and turns when he tells her into the track leading down to the barn. Amy sits for a moment looking at the scene.

‘It must be wonderful,’ she says with a sigh, ‘to have a place like this. Imagine waking up every morning to that view.’

Cosmo nods. ‘It’s amazing each time. I have this little flat in Hackney and it’s great to have my own space, even such a small one, but this … Well, it’s another world. I’m really going to miss it when I go back. Not just the view but all of it. I love it here.’

It’s on the tip of her tongue to say, ‘Well, stay here then. Find some work, a place to live,’ but she swallows the words down. He gets out, fishing in his jeans pocket for a key, and she waits while he opens the door and then looks around for her. Suddenly her confidence deserts her and she wonders whatever she’s doing with this guy that she hardly knows, but he’s gone in ahead of her. Now Reggie comes wagging out, delighted to see her, and she’s able to regain her poise as she makes a fuss of him. She crosses the grassy space and steps inside, glancing about her at the space and the light, and the fusion of stone and glass and wood.

‘The architect’s done a really good job,’ she says appreciatively. ‘It’s beautiful. But, look, I hadn’t realized how late it’s getting. I must get a move on, so if you’re coming … I’ll just make room for Reggie in the back of the car.’