‘His owners’ son is coming to keep an eye,’ Cosmo says. ‘He’s a friend of mine. That’s why I’m here, really. I think I told you their house-sitter had some last-minute disaster. Anyway, it’s only one night. I’ll travel up on Saturday morning and hope to come back on Sunday.’

‘Maybe I’ll see him around,’ she says casually. ‘What’s his name?’

An odd expression crosses Cosmo’s face, as if he doesn’t want to tell her his friend’s name, and she wonders if he’s afraid that she might like him.

‘It’s Alistair,’ he says. ‘But you wouldn’t know him if you saw him anyway.’

‘But I’d know Reggie,’ she says. She’s amused by this little show of possessiveness. ‘Perhaps he’ll bring him in here for coffee.’

‘His parents only moved down six months ago,’ Cosmo says, ‘so I’m not sure if Al knows his way around yet.’

‘Not an old hand like you, then.’

He grins at her. ‘You’ve got to admit I’m a quick study. Speaking of which, I rather like the look of the Salcombe Gin School. I pass it every time I walk in and I wondered if you’d like to show me round. The Tasting Bar looks like it could be fun.’

Amy relaxes, they make a plan, then she gets up, gives Reggie a pat and hurries back to work.

CHAPTER NINE

Jack is getting ready for his evening at the opera. When he warned Cara that nobody dresses up to go to the Barn Cinema she pretended disappointment.

‘You mean it’s not black tie?’ she asked. ‘And I was really looking forward to seeing you in that.’

‘Deal with it,’ he said. ‘It’s nice and casual. But I’ll treat you to a glass of wine in the Roundhouse during the interval.’

Now he pulls on his moleskin jacket over his checked cotton shirt and jeans and peers at himself in the glass over the chest of drawers. He wonders if he should put on a tie – he doesn’t usually wear one – and resists the feeling that he should be making a special effort. For starters he knows that Amy will pull his leg if he does. When she asked for a lift over to Totnes to see Charley he was surprised at the slight disappointment he felt at being deprived of the journey alone with Cara. He’s been really looking forward to this evening but Amy’s presence will put a different slant on it.

‘You don’t mind, do you?’ she asked him earlier. ‘It’s just a good opportunity to spend some time with Charley and it’ll be nice to see Cara again.’

‘What d’you mean “again”?’ he asked, surprised.