‘He said yes!’ I heard Hope shout from further along the beach as I generously applied another layer of sun cream to my freckle-speckled shoulders and arms.

‘Who said yes to what?’ I responded, laughing as she tripped in her haste to reach me.

‘Sam said yes to you staying on,’ she puffed, flopping down on the sand next to me and covering my already sticky arms in a gritty layer. ‘Turn over,’ she offered, grabbing the factor 30, ‘and I’ll do your back.’

Her explanation, along with her efforts to convince Sam to let me stay in the cottage even longer, did nothing to encourage my conviction to get on with things, but I was grateful that I could stay on. I had become so used to the confined space, quirky stairs and gate that stuck, that I almost considered my residency a permanent one now. If Sam had said no, then this would have been my last week in Wynmouth. Perish the thought.

‘And how exactly did you manage to get him to agree to that?’ I asked, rolling over as requested. ‘He’s been in a right grump all week.’

His continued post-party bad mood had been the reason she hadn’t rushed into making the request and I felt my face redden in case she was about to reveal that some kinky or athletic bedroom behaviour had been the key to putting him in more malleable frame of mind.

‘I asked and he said yes,’ she said, squirting a liberal amount of the chilly cream on to my back.

I can’t deny I was relieved.

‘As simple as that?’ I asked.

‘As simple as that,’ she confirmed. ‘I reckon he’s got a soft spot for you, Tess.’

I was pretty certain the soft spot was all the other way, but obviously I wasn’t going to correct her. If only I could remember what had happened in the run-up to and during the solstice party, then I could say with complete certainty that she was wrong, but there were great chunks of it that were still hazy and some parts were completely non-existent.

‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ I told her, knowing I couldn’t magic back my memories even though I wanted to, ‘but I do know that I wouldn’t mind another lend of your Mum’s laptop.’

‘I thought you were eschewing all tech,’ she reminded me. ‘Mum said you were in the café yesterday using the phone as well. Are you beginning to crack, Tess?’

‘No,’ I told her, ‘of course not. I needed to use the phone to confirm my visit to Home Farm, that’s all.’

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’d forgotten you were doing that. I wonder if Joe will make any startling revelations while you’re there?’