Jack is distracted, reaching for the programme, talking about dates, and she takes another sip of wine and relaxes.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sam puts the car park ticket on the dashboard, slams the car door and locks it and then glances round as someone calls his name. He sees a woman waving at him, smiling, and he recognizes her as Amy’s friend Charley. She locks her own car door and then comes towards him.

‘Hi,’ she says. ‘So we meet again. What are you doing in Totnes?’

‘I live near Staverton,’ he answers. ‘I was only staying in Salcombe.’

‘Oh, yes. I remember now. With Max. Your godfather?’

‘That’s it,’ he says, smiling at her. There’s something attractive in her slightly boho appearance: a long swirling skirt with boots, and a shaggy, woolly kind of jacket. ‘His wife’s back from Oxford so I’m at home again. I’ve been detailed off to do some shopping.’

‘Time for coffee first?’ she suggests. ‘I’ve come in for work a bit early and they do a very tasty brunch in the Terrace Coffee Shop.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Sam answers, slightly surprised but very happy to go along with it. ‘I thought you said you were a teacher. An art teacher.’

‘Part time,’ she says, as they cross the car park together. ‘I also work in the Potting Shed.’

She gestures to it as they walk past, between racks with pots and plants for sale. Sam tries to remember what else he’d learned about her as he follows her up the steps and says ‘Good morning’ to Rob and Andy. Fliss often comes in here for coffee when she’s been shopping so he knows them well. He likes this café, built on the ruins of the old priory, with its massive stone fireplace, and set high above the pavement. They settle at a table by the window and order breakfast for Charley and coffee for them both.

‘So,’ says Charley, shrugging off her jacket, ‘have you come to any decision yet?’

He stares at her in surprise. ‘Decision?’

She smiles at him. ‘I had the feeling, back there in Salcombe, that you weren’t one hundred per cent sold on this navy lark. You seemed much more fired up about your experience teaching Chinese kids to speak English. Or have I got that wrong?’

Sam is so taken aback that he can’t answer. Nobody else has questioned his decision to go to Dartmouth, not even Fliss and Hal. Yet here is this woman, whom he met for such a short time, getting under his guard and guessing his secrets. He looks away from her, out of the window, but she doesn’t back off or change the subject.