‘Dominic!’ she squealed. She dropped her handbag and the diary on the dresser and almost ran the short distance across the kitchen with her arms open wide. ‘What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming up this weekend. You never said. But it’s lovely to see you,’ she added breathlessly, just in case there was any doubt.

Dominic stood up and, opening his own arms to greet her, smiled.

‘Surprise!’ he said, and Pip pushed herself against his torso and buried her face into his lapel, the citrusy scent of his aftershave putting her in touch with a part of herself that had, until that second, felt vague and blurred. She felt his arms close round her, but there was no accompanying squeeze. Immediately she felt wary, anxiety rising in her like cold, dank floodwater.

‘That party in Bristol was cancelled,’ explained Dominic. ‘So, as I had some unexpected time on my hands, I thought I’d pop up here. I hope that’s all right with you.’

‘Of course,’ Pip replied as she tried to push her own doubts away. It was fine, she told herself. Everything was fine.

‘And I’m sorry to descend on you with no notice, Rachel,’ Dominic added, turning to her mother.

Her mother waved a hand dismissively, as if an additional person at the farm was not even worthy of mention, but Pip knew she would be fretting about the contents of her fridge and how she could transform it into a meal of the appropriate standard for her sophisticated house guest. She would be worrying about the state of the sheets, too. The Appleby family really didn’t deal well with impromptu.

‘Supper won’t be for an hour, though,’ her mother said, ‘so why don’t you two go and make yourselves comfortable in the snug and I’ll bring you a drink through in a few minutes.’

Pip released Dominic and held him at arm’s length whilst she considered him. His hair was slightly longer than usual. He must have missed his barber’s appointments without her to nag him to go, but apart from that he looked just the same; a little more tired, perhaps.

She found his hand with hers and pulled him out of the kitchen and away from her mother. She felt him following behind her as they made their way down the dark corridor to the snug. A cheery fire was burning in the grate, as it did most days, no matter what the season. The farm’s old tomcat was stretched out luxuriously on the hearth rug and didn’t stir as the two of them entered the room,

Pip pulled Dominic down on to the sofa and leaned in to kiss him. He kissed her back, but with a chaste little peck rather than anything more passionate. He perhaps felt a little awkward, being not much more than a stranger here, Pip thought. And they hadn’t seen each other for a while. They would need to reconnect, but there would be plenty of time to relax. They had the whole weekend ahead of them.