Next day she went into the village and bought groceries. On her return she started spring-cleaning so that the cottage should be at its best for potential buyers. By keeping busy she could ignore the fact that the telephone didn’t ring and there was no sign of Andrew.

She made sandwiches and ate them sitting outside, watching the sunset again, feeling suddenly very much alone.

But then she heard it. The sound of a car horn followed by crunching as wheels came down the gravel track.

Andrew! she thought, delighted.

She was surprised too, because it was not his way to arrive without calling first, but obviously his feelings had carried him away. In a moment she’d jumped up and raced around the cottage to where a car had just drawn up. Then she saw that the driver was not Andrew.

‘You!’ she cried, aghast, as Justin Dane climbed out. ‘What on earth-?’

Her voice faded as she saw Mark emerging too, smiling when he saw her. She smiled back and made her voice sound pleased as she greeted him.

‘We were in the area and thought we’d look you up,’ Justin said.

‘You just happened to be in this remote part of the world?’ She couldn’t keep the scepticism out of her voice.

‘Well-it’s a little more complicated than that,’ he said, sounding as though he were choosing his words carefully.

‘Let’s go inside and you can tell me how complicated it is,’ she said, trying to sound agreeable, although inwardly she was cross.

Once before he’d spoiled things for her and Andrew. Now he was going to do it again.

Mark darted away around the side of the house, calling, ‘Hey, look how close we are to the sea!’

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Justin said.

‘I wonder if you do,’ she mused wryly.

‘I shouldn’t have just come here without warning, I know.’