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‘Yes … if he answers. But he might not. Not if he thinks I never want to see him again.’ She’d had everything she wanted right in front of her and she’d pushed it away time and again. Matt wasn’t perfect, but neither was Zennor. All that mattered was that he loved her and she loved him.

She fumbled for her phone, tapping on Matt’s name and praying for a response. It went straight to answerphone. ‘Oh, God, I’m too late. Are you sure he didn’t say where he was going?’ she demanded.

‘No, I’m sorry …’ Sybil held up her hands in despair.

Zennor sent a text and a WhatsApp.

‘He won’t be able to answer if he’s driving,’ her mother said calmly.

‘Yes, he will. He’s got an in-car app.’

She kept trying and after no response, in despair, she muttered, ‘I – I just need some space.’

‘Darling, take care!’ her mother said but Zennor was off.

On the driveway, she leaned against her car, tears pouring down her face. She’d messed everything up too. Matt had always been the one for her. She should have known that deep in her heart but now she’d driven him away.

Her phone pinged.

At Bosigran if you want to talk to me.

With a squeak of relief, she messaged him back.

On my way. Don’t go anywhere!

She started the engine and sped off, cursing tractors and the local bus for slowing her progress for even a heartbeat. After ten agonising minutes, she bumped down the farm track that led to Bosigran, the cove where he’d ‘rescued’ her after the mermaid party.

‘Oh!’ Her relief at finding his car parked at the end of the track was short-lived when she ran to the cliff edge hoping that she would find him on the beach. Scanning the sands far below, her spirits sank: there was no sign of him.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Zennor shaded her eyes, searching the water, which shimmered under the evening sun. The light was at an angle that made the rock pool look the deepest agate and almost black. Her heart pounded.

There. There. It was Matt sculling on his back in the pool, gazing up at the sky.

Fighting back tears of relief that she’d found him, she scrambled down the cliff path, slipping on loose pebbles and finally dropping the last foot on to powdery sand. The surf boomed in the distance.

She called him as she ran towards the pool. ‘Matt!’

Hearing her, he swam to the side of the pool and hauled himself on to the rocks. Her legs buckled.

There were droplets of water in the tiny hairs on his chest and his nipples were tight with the cold. She tried to focus on his face. With his blond hair wet and slicked back, and his torso tanned light gold, he might have been a young sea god or a statue of Neptune. Even though she’d found him, she dreaded that their last chance might have gone after both of them had managed to sabotage their shot at happiness so many times.

She was breathing so hard, she could barely speak. ‘I – th-thought you’d gone for good.’

‘I was on my way north. I just packed my bags and left. I was going to drive until I couldn’t drive any longer and just book into a hotel while I thought what to do next.’

‘You didn’t have a plan?’

‘No. I – haven’t been in the planning mood. I haven’t known what to do with myself since you walked out of Sybil’s.’

‘I haven’t known what to do with myself either,’ Zennor said, still processing this glorious figure here in front of her. She wasn’t too late after all. ‘Why did you stop here?’

‘I felt I wasn’t in a fit state to drive after saying goodbye to Sybil and seeing your mum. I needed to clear my head and calm down the only way I knew how: cold water.’

Zennor sighed in relief. ‘Thank God you did. I was frantic that I’d lost you!’

‘Lost me? I thought that was what you wanted, for me to get out of your life. I’ve caused you so much trouble and worry. I decided that the only thing to do was leave Cornwall and accept being miserable without you.’ He stared at her with such intensity that she shivered. ‘So … are you going to stay out there or are you going to come in here with me?’