‘I thought it was you,’ said Sam, when Joe looked up.

‘Hello, Sam,’ said Joe. ‘Long time, no see.’

‘Yeah,’ said Sam, turning red. ‘It’s been a while.’

A few silent seconds ticked by and I realized that everyone had their eyes on the pair, their conversations were halted, drinks forgotten and breaths held.

‘Is it all right having the dog in here?’ Joe eventually asked.

‘As long as you keep it under control,’ answered Sam.

I had no idea what was going on, but you could have slashed through the tension with the bluntest knife.

‘I’ll get our drinks then, Joe, shall I?’ I suggested brightly, trying to break the spell before the relaxed ambience we had worked so hard to create was lost for good.

‘Sure,’ said Joe. ‘Thanks. I’ll have that pint of bitter.’

He turned and made for the snug.

‘Can you make that two pints, please?’ I asked Sam, as the noise level began to rise again.

His gaze was trained on Joe’s retreating back but eventually he nodded, grabbed two glasses and speedily filled them. He put far too much head on the first one and had to tip it out and start again. I might not have known him long, but I’d never seen him so ruffled.

‘So,’ he said, his voice husky and low, ‘How do you know Joe Upton?’

‘I don’t really,’ I shrugged. ‘We bumped into each other a couple of days ago while I was walking along the clifftops, and his dog just made a beeline for me again.’

‘And that warrants buying him a drink, does it?’

‘Was that Joe Upton I just saw you with, Tess?’ asked Mike the butcher before I could answer. ‘You want to watch yourself with him.’

‘That’ll do, Mike,’ Sam cut in gruffly.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked Mike, ignoring Sam.

‘He was a right tearaway back in the day,’ Mike carried on. ‘Always stirring up trouble when he was a lad.’

‘Well, he’s not a lad anymore, is he?’ said Sam, sounding cross. ‘So stop bloody gossiping.’

Mike slipped away and I picked up the glasses.

‘Thanks for these,’ I said to Sam.

By the time I found Joe in the snug, there was no time to ask him anything other than how his week had been before George took to the floor and quickly set about thrilling and terrifying us all in equal measure. I was desperate to find out the history between Sam, Joe and Hope but, for the present, I had to be satisfied with hearing about Wynmouth’s history.