‘In other words you’ll pretend to like anything I like.’

‘No. But I’m sure there would be some common ground.’

‘If I let you marry my mum, will you teach me to abseil?’

Jenna felt faint. ‘Lexi—Ryan—for goodness’ sake—’

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘And surf?’

‘Your balance was pretty impressive on those rocks, and you don’t seem to mind being swamped by seawater.’ Ryan gave a casual shrug and a smile touched his mouth. ‘Looks like I’m going to be busy.’

‘And you promise not to tell me what time to go to bed or nag me about my diet?’

‘You can eat what you like and go to bed when you like.’

Lexi fiddled with his car keys. ‘Do I have to call you Dad?’

‘You can call me whatever you like.’

‘I never thought about having another father.’

There was a long silence, and then Ryan stirred. ‘How about another friend? Have you thought about having another one of those?’

Lexi gave a slow smile and stood up. ‘Yeah,’ she drawled huskily, ‘I could go with that. I’ll leave you two alone now. The thought of watching a man kiss my mum is just a bit gross. I’m taking Rebel down on the beach to wash off whatever it is he’s rolled in. I reckon it’s going to take me at least two hours to get him clean, and I’m going to bang the front door really loudly when I come back.’ Grinning wickedly, she scooped up the lead and then walked over to Jenna. ‘Say yes, Mum. You know you want to.’ She glanced over her shoulder to Ryan. ‘And he’s pretty cool—for an older person. We’re going to do OK.’

Jenna couldn’t find her voice. ‘Lex—’

‘You’re almost too old to have another baby, so you’d better not waste any time,’ Lexi advised, kissing Jenna on the cheek.

Sensing Ryan’s eyes on her, Jenna swallowed. ‘Lexi, we won’t—’

‘I hope you do. Think of all the money I’d earn babysitting.’ Lexi grinned. ‘How much would you pay me to change nappies? I’ll think about a decent rate while I’m scrubbing Rebel. See you later.’ She sauntered out of the house, leaving the two of them alone.

Aware of Ryan still watching her, Jenna opened her mouth and closed it again.

He stood up and walked across to her. ‘I had an unexpected visitor this morning.’

‘You did?’

‘The Reverend King.’ There was a gleam of humour in his eyes. ‘He wanted to know exactly what time we wanted the church on Christmas Eve. Apparently it’s been reserved provisionally in our name. His suggestion was just before lunch, so that the entire island could then gather for food at our expense. I wondered what you thought.’