‘Are we really, though?’ Alec shrugged. ‘It was alright when I worked, we hardly saw each other then. In fifty-odd years I hardly missed a day of work. I did all the hours I could so that you kids wouldn’t go without. I wanted you and your sister to have the best of everything.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘You did.’

‘And the only thing that kept me going was the dream that one day I’d be able to put my feet up. But your mother won’t get off my case. She’s on at me all day with a never-ending list of things she wants me to do – tasks, errands, projects – and I’ve had enough. This worm has turned.’

Chin lifted in defiance, he squinted out to sea.

‘Dad.’ Sasha shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to broach the question on her mind. ‘Mum says… Mum says you’re having some kind of fling… well, an affair, with another woman.’

‘Ha!’ Alec lifted the can to his lips. ‘A chance would be a fine thing! Your mum is going senile. She just can’t bear it that I like to go down the pub of an evening, have a couple of pints. And yes, Annie is there.’

Sasha gave him the side-eye. ‘Annie?’

‘She’s a fine woman, Annie, you’d never know she has a bus pass. She’s kept herself in tip-top shape. She’s got a great pair of pins, still. She likes a laugh, enjoys a pint, and likes to watch the Blues play. She’s fun, Annie, and I like her company. And she’s got a great pair of pins.’

‘Yes, you mentioned that.’

‘But your mum thinks there’s something funny going on with me and her.’

‘And is there?’

‘Nah.’ He waved her off. ‘The lead went from my pencil a long time ago.’

Sasha held up a hand to say, stop. ‘Dad, please.’

‘It’s the twenty-first century, Sash, a man should be able to enjoy the company of another woman without everybody getting the wrong end of the stick.’

‘I just want you to be happy, you and Mum. You can work this out between you, surely?’ She thought of her own stuttering relationship with Kev. ‘You can’t just throw away five decades of successful marriage.’

Trouble was, her parents were both belligerent. Her mother would return home in a heartbeat, and her father would gladly take her back, but each of them expected the other to make the first move.

‘Talk to her, at least. Iron out whatever nonsense is going on between you.’

‘It’s too late for that,’ he said indignantly.

‘Everyone loves you, because you’re a kind and lovely person. All I want is for you and Mum to be happy, together or apart.’ She took his hand in hers and rubbed it with her thumb. ‘But, you know, preferably together.’