"Oh yeah," Jack said with a nod, "that must be it."

It wasn't, of course, he (and he was sure she too) were under no real illusion of that. Ice cream or not, binbag or not. He thought the same.

If he noticed the shift in her, he didn't remark on it, nor would he. He understood more than many feeling shaken from your foundations. He had been exactly that for so long, it was only now he was finally growing new roots.

He didn't, however, prepare for her to follow through on his offer to take a look herself, and so when she opened the wardrobe door, he was a moment or two behind.

"Nothing interesting in there," he said, but the door was already open.