‘Aw, how sweet,’ said Jacqui, rocking a sleeping Amy in her arms. The only way she could make it tonight was if she brought the baby with her, and she was determined to get out of the house. ‘I’m sure they’ll figure it out.’

‘If I had my way …’ Mandy raised her finger.

‘If you had your way, Fate and Destiny would be out of a job and the entire cove would be under your control.’ Cheryl laughed.

‘And the world would be a better place for it,’ Mandy retorted, and raised her glass in salute.

Gentle conversation fell over the group, and Nicole observed her friends with a sense of contentment. She had no idea this had been missing in her life. This extension of warmth and connection they all seemed to share. For so long it had just been her and Mark, isolated within their own relationship, no one else close. And when that life ended, there was nothing, no one.

Nicole skirted around the edges of this friend group, afraid to get too close, to touch it, want it and then have to leave one day not too far away.

Jacqui left first to race home, complaining that her mother always said she was happy to babysit, but always looked pointedly at her watch whenever Jacqui and Jason returned. This was the first time they’d convinced her to watch the boys since Amy was born and Jacqui didn’t want to risk alienating her.

Cheryl joined Jim at the bar, and Mandy kissed Nicole goodbye on the cheek and headed off to visit with Carole.

And then Nicole was alone with Danny.

‘I’ll walk you out.’

He led her to the doors of the pub and Nicole braced herself against the cold night air. He put his arm round her shoulder, briefly rubbing it, and removed it once they were walking up the street.

‘I can walk with you if you like. Bit of protection.’

Nicole laughed. ‘It’s not Kings Cross in the nineties. I think I’ll be okay.’

‘Well, no, it surely isn’t. We haven’t had a drug-related stabbing in at least a few days.’ He grinned. ‘But you obviously haven’t heard of the Cove Pirate.’

Nicole stopped walking and turned to look Danny directly in the eye.

‘This ought to be good.’ She smiled. ‘Out with it then.’

‘Well.’ Danny lowered his voice and started walking, not breaking eye contact, drawing Nicole along in his path. ‘Legend has it that on nights exactly like tonight, when celebration is afoot …’

‘Afoot?’

‘Yes, afoot.’ He grinned. ‘When celebration is a-foot,’ he emphasised the word, ‘the Dread Pirate … Pete, most fearsome in his time, wanders the streets of the cove looking for his lost love.’

‘Dread Pirate Pete?’ Nicole raised an eyebrow.

‘Well, he wasn’t fearsome for his name, though his name did strike fear in the heart of any who heard it.’