‘You and I could always take a short cut down the coast path,’ Gabe said.

Sam wiped rain out of her eyes. ‘You’re joking, aren’t you? We can’t go that way. It was dodgy enough on my way up and the wind’s worse now, not to mention the waves.’

‘You’re probably right. We should play it safe.’ His eyes glinted. Sam knew he was challenging her, just the way he’d done when they used to tombstone into the harbour.

‘We’re not teenagers now. I’ve too many people relying on me to stay alive. We both know this is a bit hairy for a summer storm.’

He laughed. ‘You’re probably right. We should take the road.’ Gabe peered into the darkness as a wave thundered onto the cliff. ‘I’d forgotten how brutal a Porthmellow storm can be. And how bloody magnificent.’

She laughed at him, high on adrenaline and sheer relief. He was soaked, and his dark hair was plastered to his head. Water ran down his face yet he’d never looked happier. Sam felt buoyant.

‘I’ve missed it here.’ He looked around him and back down at Sam. ‘Missed you too.’

Her heart skipped a beat and a few more to boot. She’d missed him so much herself. Just how much she dare not tell him. She wanted to but she didn’t trust herself. It would mean taking a step she’d vowed she never would. A step towards forgiving him and betraying Ryan.

‘Come back to the house with me,’ Gabe said.

She shook her head. ‘I can’t.’

‘I’m only offering you a hot cocoa. Nothing else.’

Did she really believe that? She wasn’t sure. ‘I can get cocoa at home. It’s two o’clock in the morning and I should be going to bed.’

‘Is there any point now?’

‘Maybe not but that doesn’t mean I should come to your place.’

‘You keep saying “should”, Sam, as if you’re afraid of something. If it’s me, you needn’t be … I won’t push you into anything you might regret.’

‘I’m not afraid of you,’ Sam declared. Only of myself, she could have added.

‘Look, let’s at least walk that way together and then you can decide once we’re up there. There’s no harm in that, is there?’

She shook her head and they walked off into the night towards both their homes. All the way, Sam thought of Zennor and her loaded comment about not staying out too late. If she did decide to go back to Gabe’s, Sam should text her in case she woke and worried where she was, unless Zennor really had guessed what might happen between them. And, man, she wanted to go into his house, even though she knew, somehow, that she’d probably be taking a leap into the unknown, in so many ways.