‘I couldn’t give a flying … whatever.’ They both laughed and then he kissed her and pulled her hair from its updo so that it fell onto her bare shoulders. The sun shone through the tiny high porthole. The boat rocked gently on the harbour waters. If anyone had a mind to sail past and peer inside, then they were well and truly scuppered. Bloody hell, what on earth would Fraser – or anyone back in Surrey – think if they knew she was shagging a sexy younger Cornishman in the cabin of a trawler with half the town watching?

And frankly, thought Chloe, giving herself up to the most delicious sensations she’d experienced in a very long time – who cared?

Chapter Forty-One

Since Sunday night, after tears, raised voices, hugs and talking into the night, Sam and Zennor had made some kind of peace with Ryan. Sam believed he was genuinely sorry and desperate to build a bridge with his family again. The next morning, at Ryan’s request, they had gone to visit their mum’s grave on the hill above Porthmellow and lay some flowers. Sam had fought back tears even now at the memory of the three of them at their mother’s funeral, holding onto to each other like they were drowning, sobbing.

‘Mum wouldn’t have wanted us to blame each other; she’d want us to stick together,’ Zennor said. ‘Now we’re all here, we should start again.’

Still too full of emotion to speak, Sam nodded and, for a change, let her siblings take the lead.

She and Ryan stood a little way off while Zennor arranged the flowers in an urn at the grave.

‘I can’t help feeling I didn’t look hard enough for you,’ she told Ryan.

‘I didn’t want to be found. I couldn’t see any way out of the mess. I don’t know what I’d have done without Gabe offering a helping hand. He contacted me not long after I got out, but I was too angry and raw then. I told him to get lost – though they weren’t the words I used.’

‘I would have helped you – at any time, all you had to do was ask. All I knew was that you were alive somewhere, but I was always on edge for a call from the police to say something had happened.’

Ryan winced. ‘I’m sorry. I felt I’d taken enough from you and Zen. And coming home to Porthmellow … even if I could have faced the town, I could never have faced you both again, knowing what I’d planned. I’d have had to tell you everything and that was a step too far so it was easier for me to stay away. I thought a clean break would be less painful for all of us.’