Nell couldn’t find anything at first, nothing but shells, mainly mussels, some hinged open but most single. There was the odd cockle, and a few limpets, but then, just as Chris was getting bored, abandoning the hunt to take photos with his phone, she seemed to get her eye in and by the time she’d circled back to the slipway that led up onto the pier she had gathered a pretty decent collection.

She sat on a rock and spread everything out, discarding the smaller pieces and the ones with any sharp edges. The largest, around the size of the tip of her thumb, pale green and rendered faintly opaque by the grinding action of the sea, was definitely worth keeping.

‘I hardly got anything,’ said Maude, dumping a handful of shells and pebbles, and some scraps of pottery in front of Nell.

‘It’s not so bad,’ Nell said, sorting through the offerings. Two smaller pieces of glass, the size of a fingernail, and darker, a rich bottle green, might do as well. She took her time sorting through their finds before making her final selection, long enough for Maude to lose patience and wander back down the beach. She picked up a stick and bent down to draw something in the wet sand.

‘Have you got anything useful?’ Chris leant against the rock beside her.

‘Oh. You know.’ The breeze was ruffling his hair, the light brown that was beginning to be threaded with grey, and he hadn’t bothered to shave that morning. The faded blue of his shirt – a gift from Nell, and one of her favourites – brought out the blue of his eyes. She sat back, looking at him thoughtfully.

‘What?’ he said. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Does it really bother you that much? The house? I know it’s a bit over the top, but with everything so last minute – and I thought you’d like it.’

‘No. Of course not, it’s fine.’

‘Because you have that look on your face,’ he said, ‘the one where I can’t tell if you want to draw me or—’

‘Shush.’ The kiss to shut him up turned into something more purposeful, until Nell, aware of Maude and her new policy on public displays of affection, pulled away. ‘You’re a terrible distraction,’ she said.

‘I aim to please.’ He settled back onto his rock, looking at Maude as she continued making marks in the sand. ‘How’s she doing, do you think? Really?’

‘You have to stop asking me that.’ Nell slipped the glass into her pockets. ‘I think the best policy is to keep everything low key, normal. No fuss.’

‘Hmm.’ He didn’t look convinced.

‘She was asking about the internet this morning. She’s interested in the house.’

‘Is she?’