Fraser would say he was a loser. He’d already told her that all the drop-outs and people who didn’t want to handle ‘real life’ had buggered off to Cornwall. He’d implied that Chloe was running away too … which was partly true. Porthmellow had drawn her because of its happy memories, whereas everywhere she went in Surrey only reminded her of the life she’d lost. People tried to be kind, but the house she’d shared with Fraser, the places they’d been and people they’d known had too much association with their old lives as a couple. She’d preferred to make a clean break.

It sounded good, a clean break: faster to heal, easier to recover from, less pain …

But it hadn’t been like that, and while she was making new friends and had thrown herself into community life, she still missed the ‘old days’ and found herself sometimes asking ‘what if?’

What if Fraser hadn’t left and the divorce hadn’t affected Hannah so badly? Or if even now, he decided they should give their marriage another try. What if her daughter hadn’t met Jordan Rees? What if Chloe could bring herself to be honest with her new friends about her family problems? And now, by not being honest about her age, she’d added another little white lie to the mix.

As for her new friends in Porthmellow, did she know them well enough to share the truth about Hannah and Fraser? After all, they had their own problems and busy lives, from Evie’s arthritis to Sam’s hectic life, and Drew … he seemed like a good listener but Chloe didn’t feel she really knew him.

No, she wouldn’t burden anyone else with her worries.

She opened the shortbread and found a chipped plate on which to lay out the biscuits.

Drew was first into the meeting room where Chloe had already put out her files on the table.

‘You’re keen,’ he said cheerfully.

‘I pushed the boat out and got a packet of shortbread from the deli in the village. My treat,’ she added hastily. ‘I wonder when we’ll get to meet Gabe Mathias. Someone saw him in the post office yesterday. He’s moved into Clifftop House.’

Troy tutted from the doorway. ‘Big draughty place that. Too grand for one man, especially Gabe. Time was, he was a skinny little bugger. I once told him off for tombstoning in the harbour.’

‘Really?’ Chloe asked.

‘Yeah. You know what the local kids are like. They all do it, but Gabe had to go one better and try and jump off the top wall outside the Smuggler’s.’

‘Oh God, you’re joking! That has to be thirty feet above the harbour.’