‘Yes. It’s very salty.’ She snapped off a leaf and ate it as he watched with fascination. ‘Want to try?’

Young Robbie hesitated, looking at his dad. Old Robbie smiled and nodded. ‘Anna knows what she’s about,’ he said. ‘She’s a chef.’

The boy picked a leaf and gingerly put it between his lips, nibbling carefully. A surprised look came over his face. ‘It tastes like the sea!’

‘It does,’ Anna agreed. ‘That’s why it goes well with fish and other seafood.’

‘What are you going to make with it?’

‘Don’t know yet. I just thought I’d better grab some. After all, that’s the last time I’m going to be on that cliff.’

‘It’s all right,’ Young Robbie said. ‘When you want to pick some more we can take you in the boat, can’t we, Dad?’

Anna looked over at Old Robbie, who was still smiling. ‘Sure. Of course we can.’

‘This is my boat really,’ Young Robbie explained. ‘Auntie Bren left it to me. But I’m still learning how to use it.’

‘It’s a fine boat. And you can do your dolphin patrols in it, too.’

The boy smiled for the first time. ‘You can come on one of those, as well, if you like. We get really close sometimes. Not too close, though. We don’t want to disturb them, just observe them.’ He said this as if it might have been a mantra learned from somewhere.

Anna smiled back. ‘I would love to. Thank you.’

They rounded the cliff and swung into Crovie’s little harbour. Old Robbie coasted easily up to the jetty, keeping the engine running as Anna got up to climb out.

‘Thank you, kind gentlemen,’ she said to them both. ‘For rescuing a damsel who hadn’t even realized she was in distress.’

Old Robbie smiled. ‘Not so much distress as blissful ignorance.’

‘It’s funny how often adult life is made bearable by that very combination, isn’t it?’ she said, and he laughed.

In that moment, Anna wanted to say something about Cassie – how sorry she was for their loss, and also to apologize for the way she had mentioned her so bluntly when they’d first met. But how could she, with their son there, sitting in Bren’s boat and looking up at her so attentively? Then there came the sudden crunch of footsteps behind them, accompanied by the sound of a familiar, bitter old voice.

‘You’re tae late, Auld Robbie,’ said Douglas McKean. ‘Saw the foreign lad sneaking out of Bren’s bothy nae four hours hence. Field’s already ploughed.’

Anna felt her face burn scarlet with an equal combination of humiliation and rage as she registered the meaning of the old man’s words. She opened her mouth to bark a response, but Old Robbie beat her to it.