Leaning forward in my chair, I watched the activity on the beach. In my immediate eyeline, a pair of spaniels were chasing each other in a circle, splashing through a pool of seawater, a retriever was steadily destroying an abandoned – yet pretty impressive – sandcastle, and a toddler had broken loose from his parents and was making a beeline for the sea. All round them were more dogs, children, families, couples, all soaking up the autumn sun on their faces, the feel of the sand beneath their feet, and the whisper of the breeze. I loved this place. What the hell had I been thinking, running away from all of this?

I turned my attention back to Jemma. ‘What does your mum think of Dr Steadman?’

‘She can’t stand him.’

‘Do you think she’d agree to a consultation with me? Completely off the record?’

Jemma’s eyes lit up. ‘You’d do that?’

‘I want to help. I shouldn’t interfere but you’re obviously not getting anywhere with him and I’m wondering if the outbursts from your mum might be partly down to frustration at not getting the support she needs.’

She shrugged. ‘It could be.’

‘I don’t think it would be a good idea to do it today. Not because I’ve got plans as I could easily change those, but because I think your Mum needs a chance to calm down a bit and settle into a routine now that you’re home. How about I try to come up again next weekend?’

Jemma’s eyes glistened with tears and she reached across the table and took my hand in hers, nodding. Poor lass obviously couldn’t speak. This was tearing her apart and if I could help, I wanted to.

We sat for some time, still holding hands, watching over the beach. The silence between us was only perforated by the occasional burst of laughter, the cry of a child, a dog barking, a car horn beeping, and the clink of teaspoons.

In my peripheral vision, I watched Jemma’s lips moving slightly as though she was rehearsing a speech – what she was going to say to her mum, perhaps? Or maybe she was going over their fight again. What if she wasn’t thinking about her mum at all? What if she was thinking about Scott? She said she’d brought him to Blue Savannah. It certainly held plenty of memories for me but they weren’t as painful as I’d expected.

I turned my gaze beyond Jemma to the steps in front of The Surf Shack where I’d first seen Nikki. The pain had definitely eased since I’d opened up to Jemma about what happened.

The sun disappeared behind a large grey cloud and the gentle breeze picked up. Jemma shivered and tightened her grip on my hand.

‘Cold?’ I asked.