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I shrugged. “I didn’t see him. But Aileen said he was busy, doing something upstairs.”

“Hmm,” she said, in a knowing tone.

“Hmm?” I repeated, in a questioning tone.

“Hmm,” she said in a confirmatory manner, flashing me a bright white smile.

“And what do you mean by that?” I asked, unable to stop myself from mirroring her smile. It was infectious, just like her laugh.

“Nothing. Just that that’s a Drew-​ism for ‘I can’t be arsed.’ Used when he doesn’t want to bother himself doing something for someone else, because he just wants to please himself.” As she completed the sentence, her eyes widened, as if she was a little shocked at herself for saying it. I got the feeling that slagging Drew off was not something she was used to doing. She certainly had seemed pretty infatuated with him when they were together. The sassy Nisa I encountered was a very different person around Drew, bowing down to his opinion and preferences. But then again, I hadn’t seen that much of them, due to the feud between Nisa and me. So what did I know?

“Well. I can help out while Aileen’s feeling ill anyway. It’s a chance to spend time with my buddy.” Right on cue, my wee pal came bounding up, as if he knew that I was referring to him. I crouched down to make a fuss of him, and he enthusiastically licked my face in return.

I glanced up, and Nisa was watching the two of us with a soft expression. I looked away, unsure what to do with that reaction. I liked it, but something told me that I probably shouldn’t like it. Perhaps it was the fact that she was still hung up on her ex-husband.

“Do you get a regular slot with Dave the dog?” Nisa asked as I threw the stick again. I smiled at her instant adoption of Dave’s “formal title,” as she had put it.

“Not really. We talked about it, but he was really her dog, not mine. She’d already taken him in when we got together. And I didn’t want to confuse him by having him at my place on a regular basis.”

I didn’t realize my tone was subdued until she gave me one of the gentle shoulder nudges that I’d thus far been giving her. “He seems happy to be with you. Not confused.”

My voice felt gruff. “This is just a walk. It’s not like he’s staying with me.”

“He could though,” she said a little tentatively, as if feeling me out. “You could have him stay over a bit while Aileen’s . . . under the weather?” I got the feeling she couldn’t bring herself to say morning sickness. “Try it out.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

She eyed me, and I suspected she wanted to ask more about why I was closing myself off. But perhaps, like me, she felt it was early days for our truce (I was assuming at this point that we had one), and like me, she didn’t want to overstep on this new ground.

But that suited me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about all that stuff. I hardly even spoke about it with Greg or any of my other friends—​including Ranjeeta, and that woman had a way of wheedling things out of people.

We continued crunching our way through the snow, and I appreciated how quiet our surroundings were, as well as the way Nisa’s cheeks were pinking up in the cold air. We eventually completed the loop, having passed Nisa’s stranded car along the way, and reached my Range Rover.

We climbed in, Dave sitting in the back and Nisa next to me. She pulled off her hat and attempted to smooth down the bird’s nest of chestnut, static-​filled strands underneath. I started the engine and we pulled away to head down the road to home. After a minute Nisa looked at me quizzically. “Why is my bum warm?”

I chuckled. “Heated seats.”

“Oh my God,” she groaned, snuggling further into the seat. “This is heaven.”

I glanced over, a smile in my voice. “Your ancient Mini doesn’t have that feature?”

“Ha! No. She’s way too old for that. But I love her, she’s so retro.” She paused, worrying her lip. “I hope they can fix her.”

“Do you have a regular garage?”

“I did, but they went out of business recently.”

“My friend Greg is a mechanic. What that guy doesn’t know about cars isn’t worth knowing. I can definitely recommend him. He owns a small garage and also fixes cars up in his spare time.”

“That’s so cool. And thank you. I might take you up on that recommendation.”

We continued to chat, and I was disappointed when we reached home because I had been enjoying talking to her. She was very easy to talk to when she wasn’t gunning for me.

“So,” she said, once we were standing on my driveway and Dave was sniffing around the garden, excited about all the familiar scents. “This was fun.”

I smiled. “It was.”

She fiddled with the wool hat in her hands. “Thank you for rescuing me. Again.”