Jack was with them too, standing behind his old man. ‘He tried to get out of it, but Mum wouldn’t have it. Went on about his word being his bond or something and not letting friends down.’ He shrugged and placed his iPod earphones in his ears and headed back down to the front garden. With all the grass cut back, today he was going to focus on removing weeds.

Danny shrugged, flashing her a smile from his green eyes, and went into the living room to set up his tools.

Nicole led Trevor into the kitchen and fixed him a strong coffee before checking to see if Danny wanted a drink.

‘No. Thank you. But with Trevor out of action, I might need some help.’

Nicole frowned. Yes, she was getting pretty good at stripping paint and wallpaper, and putting a mallet through plasterboard, but beyond that her DIY prowess had not yet progressed. She couldn’t actually build anything.

Her ‘help’ consisted of handing Danny tools, the names of which she learned as they went, and passing screws as he put in place shelves on each side of the fireplace.

‘This is going to look awesome when it’s finished. It might take us a while to source the right tiles for the hearth, but we’ll get there,’ Danny said, after they’d been working together for nearly two hours. He took a step back and admired their work. ‘And when you fill these with books,’ he tapped one of the shelves, ‘wow.’

Filling those shelves with books was something she would never get to do – no money, no time and she hadn’t brought any of her own with her.

‘Uh-oh. You’re frowning.’ Danny’s shoulders slumped. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

‘No. Of course not. It …’

Her breathing quickened. Thanks to Ivy’s letters her emotions were far too close to the surface. Danny’s expression was full of warmth, drawing the words from her, though she tried to keep them in.

‘… It’s just, I didn’t bring any of my books with me. Not even my favourite, Anne of Green Gables. I … it got ruined. Before I came here.’

‘That is an awfully sad face for a ruined book.’

‘It was my all-time favourite.’

Danny reached out and touched her shoulder gently. Heat pulsed down Nicole’s spine and she stepped back. What was that?

Danny cleared his throat. ‘Why don’t we see how Trevor’s doing? I reckon Mandy’ll be along shortly to check on him.’ They went into the kitchen together, where Trevor was slumped over on his forearms at the table, asleep.

Nicole grinned. Danny was probably right. They ought to get Trevor up.

‘Trev.’ Danny shook the man gently.

Trevor sat up, panic across his face.

As if on cue, Mandy called out from the front door and Nicole heard her footsteps up the hallway.