He doesn’t leave until the room glows.

Anyone can drop a stove in a hole. Gareth finishes the room around it: plastering, painting, the hearth, and the first fire. Drag the handle. Same room, same carpet, same photos on the mantel.

• Dust sheets down, hoovered before he goes
• The old fireplace taken out and taken away
• The first burn done with you, so you know your stove