Though she heard Grady say, ‘That was good of you, Laurel,’ her gaze remained locked with Mac’s as she formulated a reply that would let him know she’d neither forgotten nor forgiven. ‘I have a real problem with people who inflict humiliation by displaying someone’s body without their permission.’ A silence followed her words but she couldn’t find it in herself to soften them with a smile. Just looking at Mac Cassidy was like rubbing a freshly burst blister.

Her comment acted as a full stop to the discussion and the Cassidy brothers finished their coffee and rose to leave.

As Laurel showed them across the small, square hall, which Rea had made bright with pale green emulsion and would probably decorate much like the scene on the cover of her magazine, Mac turned back. ‘Laurel, do you think we could have a word in private?’

Laurel kept her voice and face expressionless. ‘I’m afraid I don’t allow myself to be alone with a man unless I know and trust him.’

Slowly, Mac flushed a deep, dark red.

Grady’s eyebrows flew up towards his dark glossy hair.

Both men wore identical expressions of shock and affront.

‘Bye,’ she said, sweetly, as she opened the front door for them to pass through, then closed it with a soft but final-sounding click. She’d taken a cheap shot but she’d enjoyed it. Whether Mac wanted to apologise for old sins, or even turn sinister and warn her to keep her mouth shut, he could just damned-well stew.

She sailed back into the kitchen, spirits lifting. ‘I’m going to begin clearing out Mum’s studio so I can bring my stuff in.’

Daisy leaped up. ‘Fantastic!’

Her mother tweaked the teenager’s curls. ‘You weren’t as enthusiastic when I suggested we clear it for you to work in.’

Daisy laughed. ‘No Wi-Fi out there. I like working in my room where I can watch Netflix at the same time.’

‘I’ll need a range extender or a separate router for internet access, then,’ Laurel said, as they grabbed their coats and took the side door into the garden. The garage was on the other side of the house so they stepped into an open space surrounded by hedges and trees, the lawn wearing its shaggy winter coat. Rounding the corner to the main back garden, Laurel paused to appreciate shapely conifers, wooden seating, graceful arches, and shrubs bearing red or orange berries. ‘Your garden’s lovely, Rea, even in winter.’

Rea flushed with pleasure, huddling into her coat against the wind that blew in across the fenland that began just the other side of the hedge. ‘As Daisy said, I just carried on Mum’s work.’