What would Mina say if she told her what had happened? She’d be shocked Hannah had done anything so wild, let alone with someone like Conor. Her sister constantly teased her about always playing safe. It would appear there were good reasons for doing so and if she had, she wouldn’t have ended up being quite so mortified. Thankfully it should be easy enough to stay out of his way.

Almost as if she’d challenged providence, an unexpected knock at the door made her slam the laptop shut like a guilty schoolgirl caught out stalking a crush. When she opened the door, her heart sank. It was almost as if she’d conjured him up but at least his mother was with him, her face not quite obscured by an enormous arrangement of flowers, while he glowered behind her with a dark scowl on his face.

‘Adrienne. Conor.’

‘Hello, lovely. These are for you.’ Adrienne thrust the flowers into Hannah’s hands and somehow managed to sweep Hannah along into the kitchen as if she were the hostess, which, to be fair, she was. As much as Hannah loved this cottage, it wasn’t hers. Conor walked in behind her and didn’t even so much as look at her as he put a bottle of wine on the table.

‘Conor, do the honours, darling.’ She turned to Hannah, her eyes scanning the room with bright satisfaction. ‘I think this is my favourite cottage. My son did an excellent job on this one.’

Hannah dredged up a smile. The last thing she felt like was loading Conor’s ego with any more praise.

‘I’m so sorry to barge in on you but Conor told me about the trouble you’ve had and… please let me tell you how horrified I am. Not to mention mortified. Are you all right?’

Hannah nodded. ‘Yes I’m—’

‘I’ve spoken to everyone who works on the farm.’ Adrienne paced up and down the kitchen, rubbing at the worry lines on her forehead. ‘I don’t understand it. No one has been anywhere near here. They’ve no reason and Porker the pig was found in the herb garden, so he’s not the culprit. Not for the squished flowers at any rate. I’ve been racking my brains as to who you might have seen.’ Her mouth crumpled and Hannah thought she might cry.

‘It’s OK,’ said Hannah, wanting to soothe her. ‘It’s not your fault.’

‘But it is,’ Adrienne wailed.

Hannah glanced over at a tight-lipped Conor, who was busy with a corkscrew, completely focused on his task. She guessed he’d heard a lot of this already.