She never slept well in the summer, the light nights and early dawn left her restless and irritable. She stretched and raised her head cautiously, wondering if she dare risk picking up her phone to check the time, and beside her, Chris shifted, catching his breath before going back to sleep, the gentle wheeze now more pronounced.

She wondered if she should give him a nudge, get him to turn over before he graduated to full-on snoring, but she settled for changing position herself, rolling onto her back none too carefully, hoping he might take the hint.

She stretched out under the light summer quilt and waited for sleep to return. She tried to still her breathing; slow, deep, controlled breaths. The light from the window was bothering her, but she was reluctant to get out of bed. Once she was on her feet, that would be that, the day would have officially begun.

She closed her eyes.

Outside a seagull opened its throat, its shrill call echoing down the yard.

The noise didn’t bother her, it was the sound of her child-hood, something she barely noticed, even these days when she visited her home town less and less. It might disturb Maude, she supposed, not that there weren’t seagulls at home, but they were closer here, more insistent. And it would be entirely typical of her to make a fuss, just for the sake of it, just to remind her father that their holiday was an ordeal to be got through, not a pleasure. Never mind that most kids were still in school and once they were done here, she’d be off to the South of France with her mum and stepdad.

And the new baby.

Nell hoped she wasn’t going to kick off about that trip too. They were lucky they could leave the gallery for this long, but once they were back Chris would have to work, doing all the admin and sales, and Nell – well, if things worked out, if she was right this time, then she should probably plan on spending as much time as she could in the workshop, before everything changed, for good. It would be useful to get a few ideas down on paper while they were here. She had been thinking about combining sea glass and pearls, as well as doing some simpler stuff in silver.