I had thought there was a spark between the pair and having had the opportunity to sing together now, they looked like starstruck lovers. It was really very sweet.

‘My pleasure,’ said Sam, handing an envelope to each of them. ‘This isn’t much,’ he said, ‘but you’ve both done such a great job, and I know you said you just wanted the experience of singing in front of a crowd, but you deserve to be paid after such fantastic performances.’

They looked delighted.

‘And I’d love you both to come back,’ Sam carried on. ‘If you’d like to?’

They nodded in perfect synchronicity, looking more dumbstruck than loved up.

‘Tess and I will be having a talk about how the evening has gone at some point, so come back next week and I’ll let you know what we’ve decided.’

‘Wow,’ grinned Delilah, her cat-like features lighting up. ‘Thanks, Sam.’

They wandered off looking far happier than they had when they arrived and now I was the dumbstruck one.

‘That is all right, isn’t it?’ Sam asked, turning his green gaze back on me. ‘I probably shouldn’t have just assumed, but it would be great if you could spare the time to talk it all through with me.’

‘Of course,’ I said. I’d felt rather a thrill when I heard him refer to the two of us as the decision-makers about potential future events, even though I wasn’t going to be around all that long to see them happening. ‘I’m more than happy to do that.’

‘Great,’ he said, squeezing my arm and making my heart race again as he held my gaze. ‘You know, Tess . . .’

He stopped and let out a long breath. I could tell he was gearing up to say something really important, and not about the pub either.

‘What?’ I nudged, ‘what do I know?’

‘Well . . .’ he began.

‘Sam!’

He closed his eyes and took another breath. I was desperate to find out what he was trying to say, but he wasn’t going to get the chance to enlighten me.

‘Sam!’

‘Yeah!’ he called back, ‘I’m coming now.’

The Sea Dogs were everything you could hope for from a traditional sea-shanty group. From the spotted neckerchief to the abundance of beards and big boots, they fitted my expectations to a T. They even had the obligatory scruffy terrier, wearing his own little necktie, who stalked in with an air of superiority and sent Skipper’s hackles soaring. The pair took their time sizing each other up and then, thankfully, decided to ignore each other completely, assuming ownership of opposite ends of the room.

‘Here,’ said Sophie, popping up behind the bar with a tray, just before the group began to play, ‘stop and have something to eat, Tess. You’ve been on the go for hours. I’ll take over here if anyone needs serving.’