He knew she was there, but he refused to acknowledge her presence immediately. After a while, he let the axe fall and looked at his wife with hurt in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry my friends aren’t good enough for you. You never said as much before, so I really wasn’t to know, was I?’

‘Will, Will, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into me. There’s nothing wrong with Matt and Liz. I love them, really I do. It’s me. I’m stressed, and really overtired, I suppose. Forgive me?’ She ran to him and held him close, running her fingers through his wet hair.

Will said nothing.

‘I panicked.’ She paused, while he wondered why. ‘I could see us getting into a round of social gatherings again — out for dinner one night, lunch another day . . . I simply can’t handle trying to talk to people, pretending to enjoy myself when I just want to be here, making the house special again, and working in the studio. I have to finish Angela’s bloody fairies! I need to be rid of them, and their damned Magical Garden of Gort! Then, and only then, can I do some real work.’

He realised that she was crying. Still seething with anger and hurt, he said, ‘Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. But you can’t go on like this, you know. You have to slow down. This isn’t you. And you know as well as I do that Angela’s “bloody fairies” have made you — us — a lot of money. You’ve always loved doing them, so why this change of heart?’

‘Because I resent them. They are taking up my precious time. I just want this assignment to be over, so I can get on with what I really want to do.’ She sniffed. ‘I don’t mean to be so horrid to you, but I can’t stop myself. I just seem to get so angry.’

‘You need sleep, Kate, a whole lot of it.’ He released her grip, held her away from him and stared at her. ‘You are exhausted. If you don’t recharge your batteries, you will crash, and then there will be no work done at all. Now, I’m going to get a shower, and if you want to go to your studio, fine, but no late nights, understand? And then tomorrow we’ll try to work out some sort of routine — one that won’t kill you.’

She nodded, squeezed his hand and murmured that she was sorry.

Will hung the axe up on its hook, realising that he had done his injured elbow no favours by attacking half the woodstore in a frenzy. Now it was killing him. He trudged back to the house to find painkillers, get a hot shower and continue worrying about Kate.

* * *

While Matt sawed wood for the repairs to the shed door, Liz and Emilia sat in the cottage kitchen.