‘They should do the job. Although you may want to glue it as well; sometimes screws aren’t enough.’

She took the packet from him. His hands were paint-spattered too, but his nails were clean. ‘Great, thanks.’ Whilst she had his attention, she may as well get the other things on her list. ‘Actually, I also need some help with plaster. I have an electrician coming tomorrow to rewire my house and apparently he is going to channel out the walls for the new cables. He told me I would have to fill them back in myself. What do I need?’

The assistant shook his head. ‘I’d get a plasterer in for that if I were you. It’s a tricky job.’

Rory had been expecting this ever since she’d walked into the DIY shop. In fact, she had been just waiting for someone to ask her if she was looking for her husband. ‘Thanks for the advice, but I’m sure I’ll be able to fill in a few holes with plaster.’

Rubbing his unshaven face, the assistant fixed a pair of bright blue eyes on her. ‘Have you done it before? It’s quite difficult to get a smooth finish. Plastering is a bit of an art form, actually.’

She had been asking for directions to the correct aisle, not a tutorial. ‘If you could just show me where it is, I’d be grateful.’

The man shrugged and smiled. ‘Okay. I think I saw it a couple of aisles down. They keep moving things, but I’m sure we’ll find it. Follow me.’ As Rory followed him, she wondered how much of an expert on plastering he could be when he couldn’t even remember where products were kept in his own store. His long strides forced her to practically skip to keep up. When he stopped, she almost ran into him. ‘Here you go. These are the fillers. A professional plasterer would use Thistle, but if you’ve just got thin channels to fill in, you’ll probably get away with this stuff.’

Again, Rory was faced with a choice to make, as there were three different brands. Reluctant to open up the possibility of more advice, she picked the one in the middle. ‘Thanks for your help.’ She nodded to indicate that she didn’t need him any more.

‘You’ll be wanting sandpaper, too. Follow me.’ He walked away without giving her the chance to refuse him. Getting help in this place went from one extreme to another. Obviously, he must be on commission. At least he seemed quite confident about where the sandpaper could be found.

Again, more choices – there were even different colours and different numbers to choose from – but this time he didn’t wait for her to decide. He selected a couple of types and gave them to her. But she would have to admit her ignorance.