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It was too late now to worry about motoring back in the dark – that was the least of his problems. Getting home at all was the bigger concern. If he couldn’t locate the wire back in the terminal or for some reason it failed completely, he’d be spending the night on his boat or rowing back in the dark.

He’d taken off his coat and jumper as there was no point getting them oily. Meanwhile, Pongo had squeezed into a comfy space on an old blanket under the wheel and lay there watching him.

For some reason, a simple task had become a bloody pain, possibly because he wasn’t in the best of moods.

‘Yes!’ Arlo exclaimed as he finally found and pushed the thin wire back into the terminal after several failed attempts in the oily darkness.

Finally. All he had to do now was turn the key and, fingers crossed, the engine would turn over and he could make his escape. Sweating and with his hands and T-shirt covered in oil, he straightened up and stretched his aching back.

‘Arlo!’

His heart rate skyrocketed.

Katie’s face appeared in the open cabin door, her torch wavering. ‘You’re still here.’ Her eyes widened in the lights. ‘And you’re covered in oil. Is there a problem with the launch?’

‘The starter motor’s been playing up again,’ Arlo said. ‘But there’s no need for you to be out here in the cold.’

‘I’m fine.’ She stepped inside and Pongo jumped up to greet her. This time, she’d put on a coat with a fur-trimmed hood, but the tip of her nose was still pink from the cold and tiny crystals of snow had settled in her hair. Arlo hadn’t even noticed it was snowing but now he saw the flakes landing and melting against the cabin window.

‘I saw the lights from my bedroom and wondered if something was wrong so I came out to check.’ She stroked Pongo’s head, smiling as he wound himself in and out of her legs.

‘That’s—’ He was so touched by her concern, he felt choked with emotion. ‘That’s very kind of you.’

‘If the launch is out of action, you have to stay,’ she said. ‘You can’t spend the night on the boat.’

He laughed. ‘It wouldn’t come to that. I could have taken the dinghy from the boathouse and rowed home.’

She gasped. ‘Row? You are joking. It’s dark and it’s snowing!’

He smiled. ‘I’ve rowed many a time.’

‘But what about Pongo? He won’t like going home in the freezing night in a rowing boat.’

Arlo couldn’t deny this. ‘He’ll cope. I’ll give him extra turkey tomorrow.’

‘I thought you weren’t having turkey. You being on your own,’ she added tartly.

‘Extra chicken thigh, then.’

‘Oh, Arlo, don’t do this. Don’t go home.’ She smiled. ‘It’ll ruin our Christmas because we’ll all be worrying about you being on your own.’

‘I’d feel like a spectre at the feast.’

‘Hardly. It is your house and we want you to stay.’

What about Ned? he thought. He’d hate Arlo staying. ‘I can’t.’

Katie stared at him. ‘Is it because of Ned?’

He scoffed, alarmed at her perceptiveness. ‘No.’

‘Because technically he was never meant to be here at all, whereas this is your house and your transport has broken down.’ She came closer, looking more beautiful by the cabin lights than she ever had and making him long to take her in his arms. ‘Most of all, I want you to stay.’

Arlo’s throat clogged with emotion. Most of all, I want you to stay. Those were the words he hadn’t wanted to hear. The ones that were making his resolve melt faster than the snow melting in Katie’s hair.

‘I – even if I stayed,’ he said, ‘I’m hardly the most festive of people. I’m not one for charades and fireside cosy tales. Or watching romcoms.’

‘Actually, I prefer a thriller but don’t tell anyone.’