He jumped out of the car again.

“I mean, there’s lots of wood . . . but . . .”

“But that’s the only way to heat the house,” said Jake.

Lissa sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

“And the water.” He looked at her. “Were you just going to sit in the cold all night?”

Lissa tried to smile and looked rather rueful. “Um, I don’t . . . I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Because it’s going to be below zero tonight.” He grinned cheerfully. “Just as well I turned up then.”

Lissa bit her lip, nerves returning. “Suppose.”

Jake disappeared and returned with an armful of the neatly chopped logs.

“He’s left you well prepared. Good stuff too.”

He handed her one and she stared at him blankly.

“Smell it!” he said, and she took a tentative sniff. It had a deep, oaky aroma she couldn’t quite place.

“Whisky barrel,” he said. “When they don’t use them anymore. They burn like hell and smell delicious. Right, watch this.”

And he showed her how to open the wood burner and pile the logs up like Jenga, to create a chimney inside the fireplace itself. Then he lit a fire starter, popped it down the middle of the logs, pushed open the flues, and clunked shut the door. The entire thing was blazing merrily in ninety seconds flat.

“You may have to write that down for me,” said Lissa.

“Yeah, best thing is not to let it go out,” he said, showing her the basket of peat to the side, with which she could damp it down through the night like a blanket and let it smolder. “Then you’ll be cozy all the time. Works all right this place, once it’s up and running.”

And he gave her a quick, charming smile, and before she even had the chance to get nervous or offer him a cup of tea—if she had any tea, which she didn’t—he’d bid her good night.

IT TURNED OUT that Jake had been right: the cottage did heat up surprisingly quickly. There weren’t any lamps, just a bright overhead light that reminded Lissa of the hospital, so she just sat as the evening grew pitch dark, staring listlessly into the flickering flames. Then she opened her phone and looked for Deliveroo choices.

Blinking in amazement, she took in the terrible, terrible news. There were none.

Chapter 25