After what felt like an eternity of bliss mingled with a feeling of heartache for Grace, they pulled apart and Ellis rested his forehead on hers. More silence followed, except for the sound of the cicadas singing in time to the beat of her heart. The still-warm evening sun furled around her bare legs and arms, making the moment feel even more intense and sensual.

‘Oh, Grace,’ he said softly, just holding her until the tears stopped flowing. But then when they had, he lifted his hands away from her body and gently uttered, ‘We can’t do this …’

And suddenly Grace felt a surge of panic.

So intense.

She backed off and turned on her heel.

He reached out a hand to stop her.

She pushed it away and ran as fast as she could from the balcony and into her bedroom. Once there she ran into the en-suite bathroom and, after closing the door, she made sure it was locked. With both hands on the edge of the washbasin, she leaned forward and then glanced up at her reflection in the mirror as if searching her own face for the answer.

What had she done?

She pressed the tips of her fingernails hard into the skin on the palms of her hands as if to bring herself to her senses.

How could she?

But in the moment she had realised. She was falling in love with Ellis, wasn’t she? She knew it for sure now. Maybe a teeny-tiny bit. As if the small amount that she could admit to somehow exonerated her. Because she couldn’t bring herself to even consider if it was any more than that; her Catholic upbringing just wouldn’t allow it. For she felt shameful even having such feelings or even thinking such thoughts – or were those Cora’s critical words whizzing around inside her head? Tart. Home-wrecker. Slapper. That’s what her mother would say. And, worse than that, she had kissed him. Initiated it. Kissed a man she had no right to kiss. What on earth was she thinking? She was no better than the Perky Yoga One. She let the thought linger for a while. And then something else came to her … Ellis did kiss her right back. Of that she was sure. So did that make him no better than Matthew? She certainly hadn’t forced him to. He could have moved away from her. Made an excuse. Something. Or just downright rejected her and asked what the hell she thought she was doing. He was the one with the girlfriend, after all.