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What would Arlo think of her ex turning up, and by invitation?

She sidestepped the question. ‘I can understand what’s happened and I don’t blame you or Wanda,’ she said, even though she was struggling not to be upset and annoyed with both of them. ‘You have to understand. This holiday was meant to be a chance to spend some quality time with Jess, Wanda and Athene. My parents were coming too but Lou’s twin babies had other ideas. I thought Wanda knew – that everyone knew – we aren’t together.’

‘She did but I don’t think she wanted to accept how final the split was. I … have struggled to accept it myself but that’s on me. I wanted to think there was hope. Katie …’ He turned his espresso-brown eyes on her and she felt a simultaneous flutter of desire for him and a pang of loss.

They’d been together for three years; shared each other’s homes. Everyone around them had thought they would get married and after the accident, Ned had actually asked her. She grew cold. It was his proposal, only a week later, that had triggered a complete rethink about her life, and whom she wanted to spend the future with – if anyone.

Seeing her distress, Ned said, ‘Look. I think it’s best that I leave.’

‘Right now?’ she exclaimed. ‘You can’t simply turn round and go back to London. It’ll be dark soon. Do you have somewhere to stay? Are you going to stay … with us?’ Her stomach lurched. Despite her words, he surely wasn’t expecting to stay in the Island House? Then again, Wanda probably intended exactly that.

Ned held up calming hands. ‘Relax. I wouldn’t do that to you. I’ve rented a place with the guy who owns the house. He’s got a bothy thing next to his place, so I’ll be nearby but not on the island, in your pocket. It’s a nice place. Cosy, quiet … squirrels for neighbours. It’s called the Bothy, funnily enough.’ He gave a wry, disarming smile: the kind that even now had the power to make Katie’s heart skip a little beat and reinforce her guilt. Ned had been a constant at her bedside as she recovered. His support hadn’t wavered for a second and she’d never forget that.

‘I – don’t want you to leave tonight,’ she said. ‘Not now you’re here.’

‘Well, let’s see how it goes, shall we?’ he said and scuffed his boot on the ground. ‘And it would be easier for me if I could stay on even if I keep out of your hair … because there’s another reason that I decided to come up here. I’m working on a screenplay about some hermit guy who used to live in a cave up here. He’s called Millican Dalton.’

‘So you were planning to come up here anyway?’

‘I’ve already pitched a proposal to some producers and I have to get a shift on with the screenplay. The Bothy is a great place to write; quiet and away from distractions.’

Katie gasped. ‘You’ve already moved in there? How long have you been here?’ While she’d made her clumsy move on Arlo, Ned might have been asleep nearby. Why did that make her feel irrationally guilty?

He shook his head. ‘No, I only arrived a couple of hours ago. Arlo left the key under a flowerpot, which I thought was hilarious. Look, getting this screenplay writing done is definitely not the main reason I’m here, obviously. The truth is I think what we had was – is – too good to throw away.’ His look held the same intensity that had melted Katie almost from the moment she’d met him at a publishing party three years previously. Anyone would melt under Ned Zanetti’s gaze. He had queues of people waiting in the wings – and she’d rejected him. ‘If you want to talk about it – us – then call. Meantime, I won’t hassle you.’

He was doing exactly that simply by being so close.

Panic rose, along with a determination to face the situation head-on. Exploring her characters’ emotions, putting them through hell and making them talk to each other was one of the best parts of her job – but as for confronting difficult stuff in her own life? That made her want to run away.

‘I—’ Her heart sank. Should she have a deep talk with him? She didn’t relish such a confrontation but surely it was best to get it over with – even though she’d thought they were through many months before.

The people close to her obviously didn’t think so. Otherwise, why would Wanda have dared to invite Ned?

‘Look,’ Ned said, ‘if you do want to talk to me, you know where I am. And now, I’m going back to the Bothy. I realise that I might be the last person you want to see right now but I genuinely believe that you’ll be glad I did come along. Whatever the outcome, at least we’ll have closure. But, Katie …’ His voice became husky. ‘I can’t lie. I still love you. That hasn’t changed.’

Katie felt the light pressure of his fingers on her coat long after he’d gone. Not daring to look back at the launch, she lingered a few minutes trying to compose herself. How had she ever thought that a man as magnetic as Ned and who had been such a big part of her life could be erased so easily?

That thought made her stomach flip. Until today, she’d conveniently packed Ned away, like an item at the back of the wardrobe: a dress that she’d once loved but now wasn’t sure if it fitted or it suited her yet couldn’t bear to give away. But Ned wasn’t an item of clothing, he was a real flesh-and-blood person who had loved and cared for her and given her everything when she was at her lowest ebb. All those days he’d spent at her bedside, the visits to see her while she was recovering, the flowers, the gifts, the poems.

She held back her tears.

Had she done Ned a terrible wrong in pushing him away? Yet if she was still in love with him, why was she drawn to Arlo? Or, being brutally honest with herself, did she simply want Arlo precisely because he was time-limited and a sexy fling? Someone to whom she owed nothing, least of all commitment? Ned’s arrival had done one thing: showed her that she still wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship, even a one-night stand.

She flinched. Pongo’s barks cut through her thoughts and he lolloped up, tongue out as if to say: WTF are you doing here?

With a release of breath, Katie ruffled his ears and broke into a smile. ‘OK, I’m coming, boy.’

He scampered off, heading towards the lake. Both he and Arlo were in the wheelhouse when Katie climbed on board the launch. She could see a stack of gifts loaded into a crate on the floor of the wheelhouse. Arlo must have gone back to the cars for them while she spoke to Ned.

He gave her a grudging glance and muttered, ‘Ready?’

‘Yes, thanks.’

He started the engine and Katie was forced to face her three guests, although Wanda, slumped in the corner with her eyes fixed on the floor, was clearly wishing she was at the North Pole rather than heading for two weeks with Katie. Arms folded, Athene was like a tiger, ready to pounce on Katie with an interrogation at the earliest opportunity.

Jess patted the seat next to her and mouthed, ‘OK?’

‘Please,’ Katie murmured. ‘Don’t ask. Just don’t even ask.’