‘But I didn’t have tea in Wynmouth,’ I pointed out.

‘That makes no difference,’ he told me. ‘The manor isn’t that far away, is it? You have to remember that this is rural East Anglia, Tess. You aren’t invisible here like you are in a city.’

‘I see.’

‘George’s sister is friends with the grandmother of the lad who waited on your table,’ he elaborated.

‘Right,’ I said, my brain trying to unscramble the complicated trail.

I gave up in the end, it was far too early in the day.

‘So,’ Sam swallowed, finally getting around to what it was that he had no doubt wanted to ask in the first place. ‘Did he tell you?’

‘If it’s Joe that you’re referring to,’ I said, for some reason choosing not to make it easy for him, ‘he told me a lot of things.’

‘I’ll bet he did,’ said Sam, distractedly running a hand through his hair.

He might not have looked different when I walked in, but he did now and I felt guilty for being so awkward about answering.

‘He told me a little about the crash,’ I said quietly and Sam shook his head, ‘but he also told me that you used to be friends. Best friends when you were growing up.’

‘Before I killed his brother, you mean,’ he said bluntly. ‘Yes, we were.’

I winced at his words.

‘He didn’t put it like that . . .’ I began. ‘But he did say that you’d grown apart a bit. He told me that he was a bit of a tearaway, but that you—’

‘Let’s just leave it,’ Sam snapped, ‘shall we? I’ll get your breakfast.’

‘All right,’ I said, ‘whatever you want.’

I was grateful there were a fair few other customers who held his attention and that he was more like his old self when he eventually came back to me.

‘How was that?’ he asked, nodding at my now empty plate.

‘Delicious, as always,’ I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin to erase any lingering traces of brown sauce. ‘I never used to bother with breakfast,’ I admitted, ‘but now I can’t seem to manage without it.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘it is rumoured to be the most important meal of the day.’

‘True,’ I nodded.

I let a beat pass before carrying on.

‘You know, I would have opened the pub while you were away,’ I told him. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to manage the food, but I could have served behind the bar. You only had to ask.’

‘Had I known where you were, I might have done.’

Damn.

‘Oh look,’ I said, my voice louder than I intended it to be. ‘Here’s Hope. I hope she’s coming in because I need to speak to you both.’