‘I take full responsibility for the health and wellbeing of all my guests and after the incident with Moss Murphy’s nephew and his shotgun and now this… It would be terrible for the reputation of the cookery school if anything happened.’ Her eyes glistened with tears as she fidgeted from foot to foot with agitation, and Hannah found herself wanting to give Adrienne a hug, it was discomforting to see her in distress.

Conor had opened the wine and poured three glasses, handing one to Adrienne and one to Hannah. ‘Here you go, Mam, and don’t be fretting yourself.’ He turned to Hannah. ‘I’ve been telling her that it’s probably nothing. You probably overreacted.’ He narrowed his eyes as if willing her to agree with him.

‘Darling, that’s not the point. Someone was out there. We’ve discussed this.’ She gave him a steely look, before chinking her glass against Hannah’s. ‘Do you mind if we take a seat?’ She gestured towards the pine kitchen table.

Once they were seated, Adrienne took a breath and tasted the wine. ‘Ah. Sorry, I need to calm down.’ She took a couple more deep breaths. ‘This wine. This makes me happy. It’s a great one but even better for knowing that it comes from an ex-student of mine. He and his wife bought the vineyard in France. They come back every year to do food and wine pairings for us. It’s things like that which make me remember everything we’ve achieved here.’ She glanced at Conor with an encouraging smile before turning back to Hannah. ‘I’ve been worrying about you all day, ever since Conor phoned me this morning but,’ she emphasised the final consonant with a note of triumph, ‘I’ve come up with the ideal solution. At first I thought about asking Izzy or Meredith to move in with you but I don’t want them in danger either. I ummed and ahhed about it and then I came up with the perfect solution.’

Hannah’s eyes widened as behind Adrienne, still on his feet, Conor raised his eyes Heavenward and then knocked his glass back and drained it in one go.

She stared at him. That was drastic.

‘Conor is going to move in.’

No wonder he drained his glass. His eyes met hers.

‘C-Conor.’ Hannah’s mind went blank, she put her wine down with a clumsy thud. ‘H-here?’

‘Yes.’ Adrienne beamed as if she’d just solved the all the mysteries of the universe in one go. ‘It’s the perfect solution, isn’t it?’

‘B-but… but… er…’ Hannah took a quick slug of wine herself, trying to fortify herself but all words seemed to have deserted her. Conor living here. In this house. With her. Oh Lord, how would she cope? It was a terrible idea. At least, judging by the expression on his face, he agreed.