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‘What about your other guests? Have they given you an ETA?’

‘Oh, Athene and Wanda are together. Athene’s driving too but I haven’t had an update since breakfast when they were already well on the way. I’m sure she’ll be in touch soon.’ Katie pictured Athene at some motorway services, cursing her phone signal and the Wi-Fi.

‘That’s no problem. I’m happy to ferry everyone as and when they arrive.’

‘You’ve been very kind.’

‘It’s no problem. It’s my job to look after guests.’ He smiled a little too widely, as though he was trying too hard not to make things awkward between them after last night. ‘There’s no need to leave here just yet. We can wait a while before we take the launch. Please, go ahead and enjoy the view. It is pretty spectacular this morning.’

He made as if to walk away but Katie called after him. ‘No. Please don’t. I mean – don’t feel you have to rush off.’ Was that pleasure or surprise on his face? ‘I’ve been trying to think how to capture it but I don’t think I could do it justice. I’ve also been trying to work out the names of the fells. I think I can recognise some. Is that highest peak Scafell?’ she said as she pointed ahead to the snow-topped jagged outline in the very far distance.

‘It is and that’s Blencathra next to it.’ His gaze followed Katie’s to the opposite end of the lake. ‘Those are the Jaws of Borrowdale.’

‘The Jaws?’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘That sounds sinister.’

He laughed softly. ‘I suppose it does, but it’s really only where the Derwent is squeezed through the gorge between two crags.’

‘I did read that the romantic poets found Borrowdale horrifying … I think it’s incredible.’

They spent a few minutes talking about the view, which calmed Katie’s nerves and seemed to allow Arlo to unwind too. They were interrupted by a harp sound from Katie’s mobile.

‘Oh, that’s Athene.’ She checked the message. ‘She and Wanda have stopped in Keswick for “supplies”.’ Katie smiled at the message: It’s quite civilised with a shocked emoji but didn’t relay it to Arlo.

‘I suppose I ought to come back to the house with you.’

‘What if maybe we meet in about fifteen minutes?’

‘Yes—’ Katie was struck by a sudden impulse, or rather a flash of reasoning. This might be her only chance to have Arlo alone over the next fortnight.

‘Arlo. I need to tell you something before the others turn up. It relates to what happened last night. I feel I kind of owe it to you.’ Her words tumbled out, leaving her a little breathless.

He waved her apology away. ‘Please. You don’t owe me anything.’

‘Well, I feel it might put a few things in context, especially as you’re going to be here and ferrying us around a lot and hearing stuff … and in case it happens again. The nightmare, I mean, although the other thing is possibly loosely related.’

Katie cringed at the memory but Arlo was deadpan as he replied, ‘Nothing happened.’

She smiled. ‘Thanks, but I probably need to tell you, if you don’t mind.’

Immediately, Katie wondered if it was she who needed to ‘confess’. Either way, it was too late to back down now and Arlo was bound to hear what had happened from one of her guests sooner or later. It was a toss-up whether Wanda or Jess would spill the beans first.

‘In that case, I’m always happy to listen.’ He perched on a rock next to her. Pongo settled down at his feet, gazing up at Katie expectantly.

‘Last night, I think you’ve worked out that my bad dream was worse than that. It was a horrible nightmare and as for afterwards, well, it’s possible the cause of the nightmare might have affected my – judgement.’

His frown deepened.

‘You see, a year ago – as of yesterday, in fact – I was involved in a train crash between Tring and Euston. You’ll probably remember it being on the news. It was in the week before Christmas and everywhere was packed with people going shopping and visiting families and friends. The train was derailed and several people were killed …’

His lips parted in surprise. Pongo laid his nose on his paws with a sigh. He’d probably been expecting treats and got a tale of woe instead.

‘I do remember and I’m very sorry to hear you were involved,’ he said calmly but with a sincerity that gave her the confidence to continue.

‘And I survived – obviously.’ She managed a smile, a flash of dark humour. ‘But I had to be pulled out of the wreckage. I’ve recovered but I still get flashbacks to the accident and the occasional and horrible nightmare. That’s what happened last night. Only I wanted you to know, because all the people coming today have helped me since.’ She heaved in a breath and let it out.

His silence lasted a couple more seconds but he hadn’t reacted the way most people did with squeals of horror, ‘Oh my God’s and ‘Poor you’s. Maybe he couldn’t handle the drama of having a guest with PTSD who’d already woken him up in the night screaming blue murder.

‘I’m very sorry to hear this,’ he said, breaking the silence at last. ‘I can understand why you were upset last night.’