‘What happened last night needs to be a one-off,’ he said. ‘Or at least, not a regular thing.’ For a moment a smirk sat on his lips, but then he was serious again. ‘I’m really not ready for another relationship, and you and me, well, we’re mates. I don’t want anything to get in the way of that.’

Her disappointment was sharp, but slight, and then it evaporated entirely. Wasn’t this the conclusion she had reached herself not moments before? No matter how safe or comfortable she had felt in his arms, it wasn’t the right place for either of them to settle.

‘I totally agree,’ she said. ‘Lovely, safe, comforting sex. Not necessarily a one-off . . .’ She paused and raised an eyebrow. ‘But not a state of affairs, or anything close to that.’

She reached out and gave him a hug, slightly regretful that he had agreed with her so readily, but knowing they were both right. She breathed him in as if she needed the scent to keep her going for a while. He smelled of petrol and outside and of, well, him.

‘Thanks, Pip,’ he said into her hair. ‘I knew you’d get it.’ He pulled away from her then. ‘I do have one condition, though,’ he said, looking a little grave and vulnerable all at once. ‘Don’t ditch me again, like you did last time.’

Pip was confused. When they were teenagers their relationship had come to an end by mutual decision, a situation she had considered to be particularly mature at the time. She definitely hadn’t ditched Jez, and she was surprised he thought she had.

‘I didn’t ditch you,’ she said. ‘We agreed to split up.’

Jez shook his head. ‘I’m not talking about the boyfriend/girlfriend thing,’ he said. ‘I’m talking about you and me as mates. You went off to uni and that was it. After that you never bothered to stay in touch. You didn’t even talk to me when you came home for the holidays. You just dropped me, like I wasn’t good enough for you any more.’ His eyes met hers. ‘It hurt, Pip,’ he said. ‘It really hurt.’

Pip didn’t know what to say, other than that she was sorry. She would have liked to say she hadn’t realised, that she was devastated to have caused any pain, but it wouldn’t have been true, and Jez deserved the truth.

‘I’m sorry I hurt you,’ she said. ‘I made some mistakes. But I’m trying to put them right.’

Jez nodded, accepting. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Well, make sure you don’t do it again!’ He wagged a finger at her, grinned and then turned and went back to his tractor, leaving Pip standing on the doorstep thinking about what he had just said.

‘Nice to see you getting on so well with Jez,’ said a voice behind her.