After a few minutes, Clive sat up again. ‘It’s all right, boy,’ I tried to soothe but he was focused on the door, whining at it. Outside, the thunder rumbled again. It seemed to be stuck right above the house. I pushed back the quilt and followed Clive over, trying to coax him back to his bed with gentle movements and words. Suddenly the door pushed open slowly, and in the bright flash of lightning that accompanied it, from my crouched position next to the dog, I found myself face to face with a pair of muscular legs.

‘Hi,’ a deep, sleep-roughened voice above them said.

‘Hello,’ I said, straightening up and, with kind permission of another bolt, saw shorts, T-shirt and what, in my books, would be described as that just out of bed, sexily ruffled look some men do so well. Like I didn’t have enough to contend with.

‘You OK?’

‘Yes, thanks. It’s a bit loud out there, isn’t it?’

Jack was crouched now, fussing Clive. ‘It is. I came down to check on him, but I can see I was slow to the party,’ he said, straightening up and leading Clive gently but firmly back to his bed. I briefly lit up my phone to help him see his way.

‘I wasn’t sure if he would be all right with the storm. I know some animals don’t like them.’

‘By the looks of it, that includes this one. That was kind of you.’ He turned immediately, holding up his hands. ‘That sounded way more patronising than it was supposed to. I mean, obviously it wasn’t meant to be patronising at all.’

‘It’s fine,’ I said, touching his arm briefly. ‘I know what you meant. You can go back up to bed, if you like. I think we’re all right here.’

‘I don’t mind sitting up for a while.’ He paused as another loud crack broke over the house. ‘It’s not exactly like I’m going to be getting much sleep anyway.’

‘It does rather seem that way. I can make some hot drinks, if you’d like,’ I said, snuggling Clive back under the blanket and tucking Hot Dog in with him.

‘Nope,’ he said, straightening out the quilt I’d been lying underneath. ‘You were obviously pretty comfy under there before I came down. You get back in there and I’ll make the drinks.’

‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘I know I don’t. But I want to. Come on, in you hop.’

‘I’m not five.’

‘Oh, just get in, woman,’ Jack hustled, with laughter in his voice.

‘For that, you can make the drinks.’

‘Good. At last, she lets me do something.’

‘I let you do stuff all the time,’ I said, clambering onto the sofa. Jack gave me a look as I snuggled into a position that was just horizontal enough to be able to drink my drink without choking, once it arrived. Gently, he laid the quilt back over me. ‘Comfy?’

‘Yes… umm, thanks,’ I stammered, caught up for a moment at the tenderness of the gesture, and the softness of his voice. In the darkness of the kitchen, neither of us having yet switched on the light, the simple act seemed to take on a level of intimacy that I hadn’t expected – and hadn’t experienced – in a long time. I gave myself a mental shake, dissolving the thought. Jack was just being kind and doing the same for me as I had done for Clive a short time before, and I was sure no similar thought had even brushed past his mind, let alone gone through it.