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Arlo returned to Katie. With the morning sun highlighting his stubbly jaw, the scar was more prominent and she wondered once again how he’d got it. Probably a playground accident or playing rugby; nothing dramatic or romantic. Did she want it to be?

‘Any news from your other guest?’ he asked.

‘Unfortunately not. I’ve been thinking that we should maybe give it ten minutes and then head over to the house to drop off Athene and Wanda and then come back here?’

‘That’s what I think too.’

‘It’s more trouble to you to have to make two journeys, though. I am sorry.’

‘It’s hardly like I’m crossing the Channel,’ he said deadpan before he smiled, just a tiny bit but enough to make Katie’s heart beat faster than it should have.

She smiled. ‘Well, no …’

‘Look, I don’t mind at all. You are the guests and honestly, nothing is too much trouble.’

‘Nothing?’ Katie echoed, remembering him bursting into her room the previous night and listening to her story that morning. He’d already done more than she’d expected and she was determined that none of her friends or family would get to hear of it.

‘If you need me, you only have to ask. More logs for the fire, more hot water, a lift to the jetty, fresh supplies of whisky.’

His eyes, like his tone, held a sincerity that made her feel almost light-headed. She felt she was teetering on the edge of a precipice in which she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. What was wrong with her? She’d known him less than twenty-four hours. Though they had shared an intense experience.

Katie knew all about the phenomenon of falling for your rescuer. During her recovery, she’d read books about the psychology of people who’d escaped intense, life-threatening situations. It was common to have strong feelings for those who’d ‘saved’ you, yet she hadn’t felt powerfully attracted to the firefighters who’d pulled her out of the train wreck, or the doctors who’d cared for her in hospital, or the physio who’d helped her get back on her feet again.

So how could she possibly feel like jumping into bed with the manager of a holiday house she’d only just met?

‘I’ll check on Jess again,’ she said, fumbling with her mobile but immediately dropping it back in her pocket on spotting a woman emerging from the copse. Relief swept over her and she waved ostentatiously towards the trees.

‘Oh, look. There she is now!’

Jess trudged on to the lakeside clearing, an overnight bag in one hand and an old-fashioned vanity case in the other. She was red in the face and breathing heavily. Katie’s heart lifted. The cold weather hadn’t dampened Jess’s sense of style. She worked for a vintage fashion shop and was sporting Oxford bags, brogues and a swing coat.

Jess was going to love the Island House.

Grinning like an idiot, and desperate to put space between herself and Arlo, Katie launched herself on Jess. ‘You’re here! Isn’t this fantastic …’

Jess deposited her bag on the ground but instead of hugging Katie back, her shoulders slumped.

Katie leaned back and unease stirred in her stomach. In direct contrast to her pink cheeks and cherry lipstick, Jess looked as grey as the previous day’s skies. This wasn’t the sunny indefatigable Jess that Katie knew; the one who had pulled her out of her dark moods with endless calls and visits every day since the accident.

‘Jess? Is everything OK?’

‘Oh, Katie,’ she murmured, her voice cracking. ‘I just wanted you to know that this is nothing to do with me.’

Katie went into panic mode; it happened so easily since the accident. ‘What do you mean? What’s nothing to do with you?’

Jess glanced behind her and covered her mouth with her hand. ‘I swear to God I had no idea he was going to turn up here. When I got to the car park, there he was …’

A loud snap of twigs started Pongo barking.

Katie looked over Jess’s shoulder and saw Pongo dancing around a tall man in a long black coat.

‘Hello, boy,’ the man said, leaning down to stroke Pongo, who rolled over in delight. ‘What a handsome chap you are.’

Jess closed her eyes but Katie couldn’t tear hers away from the man enchanting Pongo. Her heart hammered against her ribs. Even her worst nightmare hadn’t involved Ned Zanetti turning up on her Christmas holiday.

CHAPTER SIX

Katie was frozen on a wheel of time that was spinning backwards too fast to see the dates, like in an old movie, until it settled on Ned walking into her hospital room the day after the accident. He’d been the same then: tall, dark, impossibly good-looking. Yet even through a painkiller-filled haze, she knew she’d changed forever.