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“Never, if you’re going to call him my fancy man,” said Caz. She sighed. “Let’s get you dealt with first, shall we? Then we’ll see about making things official.”

“So there’s something to make official, is there?” Hope slid the baking tray into the oven. “You know, I don’t know anything about him, other than the fact he lives over by the church. That’s all you’ve said.”

Caz shuffled her feet uncomfortably.

“Mum?”

“Fine, fine. He lives up at the big place.”

“Banks’ House?” asked Caz. “But I thought that was some sort of corporate retreat or something?”

“No, not there.” Caz’s face flushed pinker. “The other one.”

“What other one? Oh.” Hope stopped. “Oh. He, er, he lives up at the old people’s home, does he?”

“Don’t call it that. It’s a retirement home. For people who’re retired. You don’t have to be that old to be retired, you know.”

“I know. I know. I just…” Hope looked at her mother, saw the traces of gray in her hair and the lines that had been laugh-lines for so long that she’d forgotten they were wrinkles too. “I just don’t think of you as that old, that’s all, mum.”

Caz snorted. “I’m not moving in with him. Well, at least not yet. If I get rid of you fast enough then he might move in here.”

“Mum!”

“You deserved that,” said Caz. “Besides, have you seen that place? It’s like a country club on Viagra.”

“Mum!”

“Well, it is. It’s dead fancy, and pricey too, so you’ll be saying goodbye to your inheritance.”

Hope rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t need an inheritance. And if moving in there will make you happy, well, we’ll have to talk about it, I suppose.”

Caz patted her arm. “There’s nothing serious yet, don’t you worry. Anyway, I might like to keep my options open. I’ve not exactly done a lot of dating. There’s a fair few eligible bachelors around town that I’ve got my eye on.”

“Mum!”

The doorbell rang and before Hope could turn to answer it, Alice came thundering down the stairs. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it.”

Hope followed her daughter into the hall and let her open the door to reveal Ava standing in a floaty dress, a cardigan over her shoulders to compensate for the autumn chill.

“Hello, Ms. Stanford,” Alice chirped. “Please come in and can I take your coat?”

Hope laughed. “She’s not wearing a coat, but nice try.”

“I am carrying a gift though,” Ava said, gently handing a bottle of wine to Alice.

“I’m not allowed to drink this,” Alice said seriously.

“I know dear, but perhaps you could carry it very carefully into the kitchen?” said Ava, equally seriously.

Alice walked slowly into the kitchen and Hope turned to Ava with a smile. “Unnecessary, but thank you anyway.”

Then Ava was stepping in closer and Hope could smell her scent and then her stomach was flipping and her pulse was racing again and Ava brushed her lips against Hope’s and Hope about fainted from the pleasure of it.

“Hello,” murmured Ava. “It feels like it’s been a while.”

“It has,” said Hope, putting her hand on the curve of Ava’s waist and pulling her in closer. “At least a day, maybe more. An eternity.”

Ava’s hand snuck into the small of her back until Hope could feel her heart beating in her throat. “We’ll have to do something about that later.”