Penny made a left out of the car park, and took the first left after that. The air was cold but the sky was bright – her favourite kind of weather. If she couldn’t be on a sun-lounger by an infinity pool, England when it was like this was a close second. It made her consider if she should book a sun holiday for over New Year’s. Perhaps she would – Clemmie and Rima could even come, too. She passed a few dog-walkers and waved through the door of the butcher to her supplier, Freddie, and then made a right turn at the end of the lane. She hadn’t realized she was heading for where she’d used to loiter after school, where the village reached the fields that stretched for miles, but of course she was. It was an empty vast space that her bones just knew. She hopped over the stile and stood in front of the wide open fields, marvelling at the thawing frost and how the light bounced off the grass. They didn’t have endless green like this in London. It felt peaceful and freeing. She closed her eyes and let herself feel the brightness of the sun.

‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ came a voice.

Penny opened her eyes and turned to see Thomas wrapped in a chunky knit scarf, a scrappy little dog at his feet.

‘Hello,’ said Penny, startled at his appearance. ‘I didn’t know you had a dog.’

‘Well you wouldn’t, would you?’

‘No, I suppose not,’ Penny nodded. Thomas never had stopped by the pub about that walk. She bent down to the puppy. ‘Hello, you! Aren’t you beautiful? You’re so beautiful!’

‘Are you heading up that way? That’s where we normally go. We can go together?’

Penny’s gaze followed the direction he was motioning in. She checked her watch. ‘You know what, I’ve got a staff meeting in a minute,’ she said, and it was the truth. How long had she been stood there, just being? ‘It’s a good job you interrupted my little reverie, actually – I didn’t realize the time. I only meant to pop out for a minute.’

‘Pleased to be of service,’ Thomas clowned, doing a small bow. ‘We should take that walk together we talked about, though. If you still want to.’

‘Yes,’ Penny replied. ‘I do.’

‘There’s just one thing,’ he added. ‘Something I’d like to make clear.’

Penny waited for him to clarify what he meant. ‘Yes?’

‘Well, I made out like I wanted to be your mate, but when I said let’s go for a walk what I meant was let’s spend time together and tell each other our secrets and maybe we could end up …’

Penny raised an eyebrow, taken aback by his candour.

‘… in a heated game of Scrabble.’