‘I told you this was a good idea,’ I smiled back at him. ‘Those extra customers you said you wouldn’t mind drawing in have just been waiting for a reason, aside from your wonderfully kept beer, to come along.’

‘I think you might be right,’ he said, looking about him.

‘Of course, I am.’

Sam rolled his eyes and, spotting the arrival of the first, slightly nervous-looking musician, rushed off to help him carry in his equipment. The poor lad looked even greener around the gills when he realized how many people were waiting to hear him, but I had a feeling he’d feel more confident once he’d sung his first few lines.

‘How are things in here?’ I asked Sophie when I popped through to the kitchen to check she had everything she needed. ‘It smells divine!’

For the first time ever, I thought she looked a little flustered, or at least she seemed to appear so when she spotted me.

‘Tess,’ she said, her eyes trained on the huge pan she was stirring, ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’

‘Is everything all right?’

‘Yes,’ she said, although I wasn’t sure I believed her. ‘Everything’s fine.’

‘And you’ve got everything you need.’

‘I think so.’

I waited for her to carry on, but she didn’t and I was just about to ask her again if all was well, when Sam poked his head around the door.

‘Tess, can you spare a sec?’ he asked. ‘I could do with a hand behind the bar.’

Now it was my turn to look flustered. Earlier in the week, I had told Sam about my stint working in the union bar at university and he had made me pull or pint or two to see if my skills were still up to scratch, just in case he ended up needing them. They hadn’t been to begin with, but as with most things in life, the more I’d practised, the better I’d got and Sam had said it was good to know that I would be able to help the others keep up if the evening got as busy as he thought it might.

‘What, already?’ I squeaked, following him out of the kitchen.

I hadn’t scheduled the extra bar support to show up until later.

‘Already,’ he said, pointing at the quickly forming queue.

It was all hands on deck after that. There were a couple of brief lulls while the young singers were giving a rendition of their rather accomplished repertoires, but the till rang long and loud all afternoon and the evening looked set to be an even bigger draw.

‘Thank you so much for this, Sam,’ said Harry, the lad who had ended the afternoon together with Delilah, the other performer, singing a moving acoustic version of an Ed Sheeran track.