Emma thought back to her own recent dating disaster. There certainly hadn’t been any chemistry or frisson with Fondle Fingers the Malteser Man, just the bloody angst. Her thoughts jumped to the man on the beach at Boxing Day, all those weeks ago now. She couldn’t quite shake off the memory of him and felt a tug in the pit of her stomach, like she missed him, yet she didn’t really even know him. She wondered if he ever thought of her, too.

A figure dressed in a black raincoat was hunched outside the shop window under an umbrella. It had been a drizzly damp afternoon and it seemed to have been dark for hours out there, so Emma was glad that Holly had dropped by – the weather today had kept all bar the hardiest of ramblers at bay. A couple in matching red cagoules had called earlier admitting they’d been hoping for a café, but had settled for a bar of milk chocolate for their coastal walk, and that was the last customers she’d seen until the young man Holly fancied.

Holly went out to the kitchen to make them a cup of tea and the dark-clad figure moved to the doorway. Once his umbrella was let down, Emma had a sinking moment of recognition. It was Mr Neil, her landlord.

He strolled in, dripping rain on to her wooden floorboards.

‘Good afternoon, Emma.’ The greeting came out in a flat tone. ‘How’s business?’ He looked around at the empty shop.

‘Afternoon.’ She took a slow breath. ‘Good, thanks.’ She smiled. She was never going to tell him otherwise.

‘I was just calling to check you have received my letter.’

‘Yes.’

‘And to remind you that I need your reply by the end of next week, as per its contents. Obviously, you do need to give me a month’s notice of your leaving, though I’m sure I could make arrangements if you’d like to vacate earlier.’ He gave her a cold smile, pretending to be helpful.

So, he was evidently counting on her leaving the shop. That made Emma even more determined to do everything in her power to raise enough funds to keep it going and make the new rent payments. He couldn’t just chuck her out of her home, her business.

Holly wandered through at that point with two cups of steaming tea. She said ‘Hello’ cheerily to the gentleman in the shop, to be answered with a very cool ‘Hello’ back. She looked at Emma with raised eyebrows as she passed over her cup, as if to say, who on earth is that misery?