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‘I promise I’ll be as gentle as I can.’

Despite her predicament, and her resolve not to care, his soothing words made her stomach flip again and her emotions bubble to the surface. The memories of the past, the effort of entertaining the kids and swimming, the genuine worry that she was stuck with the tide rising … all had conspired to strip her of some of her resistance.

‘OK. I need to hoist you up somehow. You brace against the rocks and I’ll lift you.’ He crouched behind her, inserting his arms under hers. The irony of being back in Matt’s arms after so long was not lost on her, even in this horrible situation. He’d bulked up and she could feel his muscles against her arms.

‘Ready? One, two, three.’

She pushed with all her might and Matt grunted as he lifted her up. At first, she didn’t budge and she sat back down with a groan of frustration.

‘We nearly got there. I’m sure we can free you.’ He patted her shoulder briefly and then said, ‘Ready? One, two …’

‘Three!’

Zennor felt herself hoisted into the air, scraping her arms as she emerged from the cleft in the rocks like a cork out of a bottle. It hurt momentarily but she was free.

‘I can’t stand!’ she said, flopping into the pool.

‘H-hold on to me.’

She was in his arms, supported by him, and looking straight into his face, red with the effort of lifting her whole weight. ‘Thank God. Thank you.’

‘You’re w-welcome,’ Matt said, breathing heavily. ‘And Zennor …’ He sounded agonised and she was sure he was going to say something that both of them would regret. She found she was shivering, but whether from the cold or the ordeal, she wasn’t sure.

‘Not now. Please. I just want my tail off.’

‘Not a phrase you hear every day …’ Matt said with a grin.

Zennor glared at him.

‘OK. Sorry, this isn’t funny in any way.’ He nodded and carefully, as if she were a fragile object, lowered her to sit on the rocks.

‘Do you want a hand with – taking it off?’ he asked, keeping his distance.

‘Yes, please. It’s very tight, even with the lube, but please, don’t drag my bikini bottoms down with it.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it. Let me help. I’ll be gentle, I promise.’ From the look in his eyes, no irony or joking, she knew he meant it. She was in a ridiculous situation and maybe – probably – eventually, she’d have got herself out of it. Maybe.

‘OK. Thanks,’ she said; then, ‘Shall we get on with it?’

‘My thoughts exactly,’ Matt said, his grin back in place.

With Matt tugging on the tail, she wriggled out of it and finally, at last, was able to stand on her two feet again.

Matt picked it up and whistled. ‘This is heavy.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Zennor said, almost feeling as if she could fly without the weight of the tail.

‘I’ll carry it back to the beach for you. Be careful.’

Soon she felt the firm sand of the cove under her feet.

Matt threw the tail on to the sand and sat next to it, huffing lightly. ‘Jeez. That was a lot trickier than I expected.’

‘Me too,’ Zennor said, sitting down next to him with a huge sigh of relief. The wind had freshened and now she had time to breathe, she was shivering with adrenaline.

Matt found his T-shirt and handed it to her. ‘You might want this to keep you warm.’

Too cold to refuse, she accepted it with ‘Thank you’.