It took a while for everyone to leave and it was well after midnight by the time the Sea Dogs had packed their van and driven off into the night and the rest of the volunteers had drifted away to their beds.

Sam locked the door after making sure Sophie had an escort to walk her home (not that Wynmouth was a dangerous place in any sense, but George’s ghostly tales had got us all a little spooked), and leant heavily against it.

‘Well now,’ I said, stifling a yawn as I gave the bar one last wipe down and hung the cloth over the pumps as I’d seen being done on the television, ‘I think that could be called a roaring success, wouldn’t you agree, landlord?’

‘It was amazing,’ said Sam. ‘Absolutely brilliant.’

‘So,’ I said, ‘just remind me again, why you haven’t been doing things like this before?’

‘I told you,’ he said, ‘I just haven’t had the time to organize something like this properly.’

Had he asked for help before, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but I didn’t say as much because I was pretty certain he’d worked it out for himself now.

‘And everyone’s mightily impressed with you, Tess.’

‘Are they?’

‘Oh yes,’ he smiled. ‘They all know how you stepped up when I asked and Sophie has been telling them all about the suggestions you’ve made to improve the café too.’

I hoped I hadn’t made a mistake in sticking my head above the parapet. I had been planning a quiet holiday originally, where no one took much notice of me. If Dad tried to track me down and thought Wynmouth might be a good place to look, he wouldn’t have to make many enquiries before he found me, would he?

‘They weren’t really my suggestions,’ I modestly reminded Sam, pushing thoughts of Dad to the sidelines again. ‘From what Sophie said, her daughter has been suggesting most of them for far longer than I have. It’s just for some reason that she decided to take them on board when I came along.’

‘Well,’ said Sam, coming to join me behind the bar and pulling me in for a hug I hadn’t seen coming or had time to for prepare for but still very much enjoyed, ‘you can’t deny that tonight has been down to you, can you?’

‘Of course, I can,’ I said, pulling away a little so I could look up at him. ‘This has been a joint effort right from the start.’

Sam looked doubtful.

‘You were just like Sophie,’ I insisted. ‘All you needed was a little nudge in the right direction to get the ball rolling.’

Sam laughed, the sound resonating through his chest and into mine.