Anna took a breath. ‘Yes, I am. I’ve tried to talk to him, and I’ve even invited him to eat here, but he’s ignored my attempts to be friendly.’

‘Mr McKean is the last original resident of Crovie, isn’t he? Do you feel that newcomers have a responsibility to be respectful of such residents?’

‘Of course I do,’ Anna said. ‘But I don’t believe I’m doing anything disrespectful, either to Crovie or to Mr McKean. I’ve made every attempt to be as respectful as I can. I’m not sure he can claim the same. And in fact, I can tell you exactly where Mr McKean’s dislike of the Fishergirl’s Luck comes from,’ she said. ‘For years he has been telling everyone who will listen that he is the real owner of this building.’

‘He told us the same thing,’ said the reporter. ‘It sounds as if the previous owner might have benefitted unfairly from a badly written legal transfer of property. We were planning to do some investigating into the matter.’

Anna took a deep breath. She’d been hoping the subject wouldn’t come up, but had thought it best to be prepared anyway. She turned to pick up a folder that had arrived from her solicitor in the post a few days before. Sliding the contents out, she spread the documents on the table.

‘These are the original deeds to the property,’ Anna said, pointing to the date. ‘Brenda MacKenzie purchased this shed – as it was then – in 1938, from her father, who owned it. If you check the records, you will see that the MacKenzie family home, land and the boat that was their business was transferred in totality to the family of Douglas McKean in 1943, years after Bren had become the owner. Perhaps Mr McKean wasn’t aware of the formal agreement that Bren had made to become the owner of this property, but as you can see, the legal standing is clear. This place has never belonged to any McKean, least of all to Douglas.’

The interview was wrapped up shortly afterwards, and the reporter seemed warm enough as he was leaving, but Anna spent the rest of the day worrying about how the piece would make her look. She had to watch the report, though, Anna knew that – if there was a wider group of locals unhappy about the lunch club she needed to know.

It quickly became apparent that Anna needn’t have worried. Out of Jean Padgett, Douglas McKean and herself, even Anna could tell that she was the only one who sounded even vaguely reasonable. Anna looked closely at the woman accusing her of being insensitive, but didn’t recognize her. To her relief, Anna realized that the journalist had also spoken to other people Anna didn’t know but who all seemed enthusiastic about the idea of a restaurant, however small, in Crovie.