He moved to give her a very gentlemanly kiss on the cheek, his aftershave and the slight scratch of stubble provoking a flood of memories. But before it developed to something more she stepped away: she needed time to think about all this, not rush in.

‘It’s been lovely to see you again,’ she managed.

‘Yeah,’ he replied. ‘It’s been good to see you too. Would you like a lift back to the shop?’

‘No, I don’t think I should spoil your nice clean vehicle with a damp, sandy spaniel, but thank you all the same.’

‘Okay, well, catch you later, then. The Fisherman’s Arms at eight o’clock.’

‘Yes. See you.’ Her head was in a whirl.

The water felt good pounding her body as she freshened herself up with some zingy mint shower gel. She didn’t quite have enough time to wash her hair, as it was thick and wavy and took ages to dry and she only had an hour, which included a quick and easy supper of scrambled eggs on toast. Now her stomach felt a bit queasy. She couldn’t quite pin her emotions down as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She was kind of excited at the thought of meeting Max again, but then she felt incredibly nervous. Going on a date with this guy seemed too raw – too wrong.

Rubbing the towel over her slim body, she had a panicky moment. What if they did get on well? What if there were other dates, what if one day he might actually get to see her naked? Gulp. Instinctively, she pulled the towel tighter around her.

Jeez, her inner voice kicked back, you’re thirty-six years old for goodness’ sake, and you haven’t even been for a date yet, just a bloody beach walk. And, even if anything might happen at some point, it’s sex, it’s normal. It was also something she had abandoned, after a couple of failed attempts, post Luke. So, the last time was what, four years ago?

And the hardest part was it wouldn’t be Luke, would it? She felt herself go into a cold sweat, and a tear clouded her eye. How she wished it could be Luke – but it couldn’t. It never would again.

Years, it had been years, and it still had the power to hit her like a sledgehammer. That was the way love hurt, when someone left you. But the days still rolled on, the sun rose, the sun set, somehow you managed to smile again, even if your heart was left in tatters.