He smiled, a wide, relaxed expression that made his face younger and happier than she’d yet seen it. ‘Sounds good to me. Thanks for coming, Anna.’

‘Thanks for asking! I had a good time.’

The boat pulled out of the harbour as he hooked an arm around his son’s shoulders. He raised his voice and shouted over the waves, over the engine.

‘Do another lunch at the Fishergirl’s Luck.’

‘Maybe,’ she shouted back.

‘Promise me!’

She laughed. ‘I don’t make promises I might not be able to keep.’

He threw up his arms in mock exasperation, but he was still smiling. In another moment the boat had disappeared around the promontory, heading for Gamrie.

Twenty

‘Well,’ said Cathy, who had called not long after Anna had arrived back from her unexpected expedition. ‘That sounds like a pretty full weekend to me. What are you going to do now?’

Anna glanced at the clock. It was barely eight o’clock, but she was struggling to keep her eyes open. ‘Well, right now I think I’m probably going to crash into bed and go out like a light.’

‘What, again? That’s really not like you,’ said Cathy.

‘I know,’ Anna laughed. ‘Being here is making me soft. I think it’s all the sea air I’ve had today – I’m exhausted. Or maybe it’s my age. It usually is if you’re a woman, isn’t it, one way or another?’

‘As long as it’s not depression,’ Cathy said seriously. ‘I know you say you’re fine about the fling with the hot Kiwi ending, but—’

‘It’s not depression,’ Anna assured her. ‘I promise.’

‘All right, then. And actually, I was talking about life in general. The pop-up, for example. Doing another few of those would keep you busy, wouldn’t it?’

Anna sighed. ‘Robert MacKenzie was trying to talk me into doing another lunch, too.’

‘Smart man. I knew there was a reason I liked him.’

‘You’ve never even met him.’

‘Don’t need to. He’s clearly got my girl’s back, and that’s enough for me. Besides, as if there’s any chance of me not liking someone you described as “a young Robert Redford”.’

Anna leaned back against the sofa, shaking her head. ‘I’m still not sure about doing another lunch.’

‘But it went so well!’

‘Aside from the humiliating addition of Douglas McKean, you mean?’

‘You can’t let one cantankerous old bastard ruin it for you.’

‘Robert said that too. Or words to that effect.’

‘I told you – smart man. Besides, think of everything you got together for that first lunch – the dishes, for example. You can’t not use those again.’

‘I know, I know. It’s not only one old man though, is it? It wasn’t him that called the health and safety people. There’s someone else out there who doesn’t like me.’