‘We’re going sailing tomorrow,’ Max tells Jack. ‘Any chance of joining us?’

The talk turns to the weather, tides, and Cara sits back and picks up her glass. She glances at Sam.

‘So how would you feel about helping me with a spot of house-hunting?’ she asks him. ‘I sold my house in London rather unexpectedly quickly to some Foreign Office friends and I haven’t got anywhere to live.’

‘I’d be happy to,’ he answers enthusiastically. ‘I rather envy people who move about. You must have done a great deal of it.’

‘Can’t argue with that,’ she agrees. ‘The trouble is, because of that, there’s nowhere I really feel is home. That’s why I’m here. But I can’t stay with Max for ever, so you see my problem? I’m looking for places to rent or buy but I need some help. You’re a local. Where would you live if you weren’t at The Keep?’

Sam frowns, thinking about it. ‘I’d really need to think about that,’ he says at last. ‘It depends on what you like to do and how you live. I mean, are you a country person or a town person?’

She laughs. ‘Good question. If only I knew the answer to that.’

‘Well then, you should look at both,’ he says. ‘Have you got any details yet?’

‘Max and I had a look online,’ she answers, ‘but not seriously. I need to make a plan. Let’s get our order in and you can tell me where I should start looking.’

Jack is listening with half an ear to this conversation whilst Max talks about bringing his boat ashore for the winter.

It must be hard, thinks Jack, to lose your husband and have no home that you’ve shared together. And no children.

At least he has Amy. He longs to intervene, to tell Cara about several properties in the town that will soon be available as winter lets, which she could rent whilst she looks around, but he sees that this is Sam’s show. He suspects that Cara has deliberately involved Sam in this to include him and to show that he’s not just a young man amongst three much older people but someone who might be useful and necessary to her. Sam has already taken his phone from his pocket and is flicking through various sites whilst Cara looks on, leaning forward, so that she can see what he’s doing.

Jack is aware of a vulnerability only just masked by her cheerfulness. It was good to have that moment of connection with her when he was teasing Sam, and he was pleased at her delight when Sam scored his point, and then he wonders what Amy might make of Sam and how an introduction might be achieved without it looking too obvious.