Having to practically roll ourselves out of the pub, we loaded ourselves into the car and headed for home. The clouds of earlier had now multiplied and darkened and, although a faint strip of pale pink hovered on the horizon, the rest of the sky was far less inviting than it had been earlier today.

‘I think you might have been right about that rain. It’s looking a bit ominous up there.’

‘It is. With a bit of luck, we’ll get home before the clouds break.’

We did, but not by much. As we were standing in the kitchen, unpacking the picnic basket, Clive had padded over to his bed and curled up, Hot Dog under one paw, the first few spots of rain began pit patting against the windows. By the time we’d finished, it had become a steady fall. Checking that Clive was comfortable, I told Jack that I was going to head up for a bath, and he mentioned he had similar plans.

‘Do you want a glass of wine to take up?’

I smiled. ‘That’s very lush.’

‘I know, but it can be our secret, I promise.’ He made a cross your heart sign on his chest.

‘Very funny. A Baileys over ice would be nice, though.’

‘Good choice. Coming right up.’

‘I’m just going to start my bath. I’ll pop down and get it in a minute.’

With that, I left the kitchen, grabbing my book on the way and headed up to my en suite, turning on the taps and dropping in my favourite bath essence, at once filling the steamy air with lavender and rose.

‘Knock knock,’ a voice called from my room.

Heading through the bedroom to where the door stood ajar, and pulling it open, I found Jack standing there with a large glass of Baileys. At its centre was a huge ice cube. I always preferred these to the smaller ones as they took longer to melt and didn’t dilute my drink quite so quickly. Not to mention they looked cool too.

‘Thanks. You didn’t need to bring it up.’

‘You were on my route,’ he said, smiling softly down.

‘Thanks again for today,’ I said as I took the drink from him.

‘You’re very welcome. I’m really glad you enjoyed it. And I’m sorry if I said some things before that I shouldn’t have. I’d never hurt or upset you for the world. I know it probably didn’t seem that way, but I need you to know that it’s true.’

I looked up into the depths of those beautiful green eyes. ‘I know it’s true,’ I confirmed. ‘At least I’m sure where I stand with you.’

He gave a soft smile. ‘There is that.’ He lifted his head a moment, sniffing the air like Clive had earlier when someone had lit a portable barbecue. ‘That smells wonderful.’

‘It’s really relaxing. Do you want some for your bath?’

‘Umm, no. No, that’s fine. I’ve got some Radox. That’s fine.’