‘Great. Well, I’d better go and get my beauty sleep.’ Jessie stifled a yawn. ‘Before I do, though, bucket lists.’

‘What?’ Jason asked bemusedly. He had a hard time keeping up with her sometimes. But then, he liked that about her, too: the fact that there were never any awkward silences between them.

‘Bucket lists,’ she repeated. ‘I want to get to know you a little better, so you tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine. Rapid-fire. Go!’

‘Right.’ Jason shook his head. ‘Okay. Er, climb a mountain.’

‘The Andes, Peru,’ Jessie shot back. ‘A trek to Cusco, the soul of the Inca Empire,’ she added, as if she’d already half-planned it. ‘My turn. See the Wonders of the World.’

‘Ditto,’ Jason said, in the absence of anything else coming to mind.

‘No, you can’t have the same as mine,’ Jessie chided him. ‘That’s cheating.’

‘Ah, er…’ Jason furrowed his brow. He’d never really thought about all the things he’d like to do before he died. He’d thought he’d achieved one of his ambitions in life: to have a family, to belong. That hadn’t worked out too well. ‘I’m running out of ideas.’

‘Already?’ Jessie laughed. ‘What about… scuba diving?’

‘Been there,’ Jason answered.

‘Really? Oh, okay.’ Jessie paused to ponder. ‘Kayaking then.’

‘Yep, done that too.’

‘My, we are fit, aren’t we?’ Jessie sounded impressed. ‘Okay, well…’ She stopped to consider. ‘If you could change your career, what would you do?’

Now Jason was definitely bemused. Was she telepathic? ‘I am changing my career,’ he said. ‘Sort of. I’m looking at working in Ireland, as it happens. Nothing’s certain yet, but there’s an extreme sports company that might want me. I learned to microlight there, years ago now, but it’s a possibility.’

‘Well, I’ll be damned. A man after my own heart.’ Jessie laughed in amazement. ‘Oh my God, we have to book some microlighting lessons when you come over. Ireland’s coastal regions are a pure feast for the eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything so exhilarating. Well, apart from when I flew a helicopter,’ she went on blithely, talking excitedly. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be getting my pilot’s licence any time soon, though. My navigational skills really are rubbish. I’d probably end up being fished out the Irish Sea or else off the top of a bus. To be fair, it was lashing out of the heavens once I got up there. I swear the fella with me was almost having a heart attack with me at the controls.’

Jason shook his head, astonished, and wondered whether his luck might be changing, after all.

‘Yikes, look at the time,’ Jessie yelped. ‘I have to go, or I’ll be useless at work. You too. You’ll get the sack before you’ve lined up your new job, at this rate.’