‘I’ll come back later,’ I squeaked, my cheeks burning.

‘No, don’t go,’ Sam insisted. ‘You aren’t interrupting. Come through. I want to introduce you to someone.’

My body temperature felt about a thousand degrees and I knew I was sweating. I must have looked a right mess.

‘Tess,’ Sam smiled, not noticing my discomfiture as he casually released the woman and steered her over to where I was standing, ‘this is Sophie’s daughter, Hope. Hope, this is Tess.’

‘Oh, my god!’ Hope squealed, as if I was the most exciting thing since sliced bread. ‘It’s so good to finally meet you!’

With her dark, heavily lashed eyes and thick curls, coupled with the way she reached out and pulled me in for a suffocating hug, she couldn’t possibly have been anyone other than Sophie’s daughter. I was rather taken aback to be greeted like a long-lost relative as opposed to a stranger, but I shouldn’t have been surprised really.

‘Mum has told me so much about you,’ she beamed. ‘I can’t believe you’ve got her surfing the net. I’ve been trying forever! And now Sam tells me that last night you pulled off the most amazing evening Wynmouth has seen in years. I can’t believe I missed that. Had I known I would have definitely made it back in time, but I was with my aunt Blossom in Norwich, and hadn’t spoken to Mum all week—’

‘Hope,’ said Sam, catching her hand and giving it a squeeze, ‘slow down. You’re making me feel light-headed.’

‘Sorry,’ she laughed, taking her hand back and covering her mouth, ‘I’m just so excited to be back! It feels so good to be home. I’ve got tonnes to tell you.’

She was off and running again and Sam looked at me over the top of her head and grinned. I was fast beginning to feel like I’d been steamrollered, but in a good way.

‘Well,’ said Sam, quickly butting in the next time Hope drew breath, ‘you don’t need to tell us everything you’ve been up to in the next three seconds, do you? We’ve got plenty of time to catch up, especially now Tess has extended her stay.’

I was surprised that he had included me in their party, but something told me I was going to be seeing a lot of Hope in the next few weeks.

‘I’m so pleased you aren’t rushing off,’ she said to me. She sounded genuinely delighted. ‘Now we’ll really have a chance to get to know each other. I know Mum’s very fond of you already.’

I was very fond of her too, but I didn’t get the chance to say that.