He ran his fingers through his thick silver hair, his blue eyes troubled. ‘Goodness me; time really does fly, doesn’t it?’ He reached for her hands again. ‘Oh, my dear girl, I should have telephoned you. Will you ever forgive me?’

She nodded warily and let him kiss her cheek. He didn’t look like a man who was about to break her heart, but what on earth had he been up to all this time? ‘You must be cold after that very long walk,’ she said quietly. ‘Come into the sitting room and warm yourself. I’ve made a pot of tea, but I’ll need to get another cup.’

‘I don’t want tea,’ he said firmly, leading her into the sitting room and pressing her down into a chair. ‘And I haven’t been walking all this time either,’ he admitted, not quite looking her in the eye.

‘Then what on earth have you been doing, John?’ she asked evenly.

‘I did walk for a bit to clear my head after Michael left. Although I love my son, I couldn’t admire his behaviour today, and certainly wouldn’t stand for the way he tried to …’

He faltered and Doris finished the sentence for him.

‘Tell you to finish with me,’ she said. She saw the distress in his face and touched his arm. ‘It’s all right, John. I guessed some time ago that that might be the case.’

‘Doris, darling, I never realised how difficult these past weeks must have been for you, and after the disastrous lunch at the Club I knew I had to take a stand and defend my right to be happy with the woman I love.’

She could feel the prick of tears and the thudding of her heart as she watched him reach into his jacket pocket for a slip of paper and then drop at her feet on one knee.

‘I do hope you won’t be too cross,’ he said shyly, ‘but I’ve been to the Town Hall to arrange our wedding ceremony for the end of August.’ He placed the notice on her lap, his gaze never leaving her face. ‘Please say you’ll still marry me, Doris.’

Doris cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. ‘You silly, dearest man,’ she managed through her tears. ‘Of course I will.’

Charlie burrowed beneath the blankets and eiderdown and gave a sigh of contentment. After all the concerns he’d had over this homecoming, it had proved to be all he could have hoped for – and more.

Grandad had told him his stories as they’d walked with the dogs – just like he’d done all those years ago. And when they’d gone down to the beach, Charlie had drunk the whisky-laced tea and asked for another as he’d sat enthralled by his Uncle Frank’s reminiscences of the days when Charlie had gone out with them at weekends and school holidays.