He scoffed. ‘Who isn’t a Friends fan? Nothing fixes a gloomy mood better than a few episodes of the famous six.’

I laughed. ‘Maybe I should try that on my fourteen-year-old. He seems to be in a constant grumpy mood of late.’

Dan smiled properly now as he caressed the steering wheel—was that what it was called on a boat? ‘How many kids do you have?’

‘Two.’

‘Are they with your husband then?’

‘At the moment, yes,’ I said with a sigh. ‘We’re currently nest parenting.’ At the blank look on his face I explained the concept and the ideology behind it.

‘I guess that makes sense for the kids, but you must miss them.’

‘I do.’ A lump formed in my heart and bubbled up to my throat. I didn’t want to cry but talking so openly about my kids with someone I barely knew made me emotional.

‘Shit, I’m sorry,’ Dan said. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just curious—pretty girl like you comes to the Point alone, there’s usually a story.’

‘No one has called me a girl for quite some time.’ Or pretty. I pushed that thought aside. ‘Do you have kids?’

‘Nope. Always wanted them but …’ He shrugged. ‘My swimmers are duds.’

His honesty shocked me and although he made light of it, I thought I detected a wobble in his voice. Was this the real reason his wife had skipped town?

‘Anyway, enough chit-chat.’ He killed the engine. ‘We’re here.’

He dropped the anchor, mooring us just offshore. ‘There used to be a jetty; it all but disintegrated in the storm. Just another thing we’ll need to rebuild.’

When Dan shrugged out of his life jacket, I did the same, and when he jumped out of the boat, I made to follow.

‘Oh no, you don’t.’ He scooped me into his arms again. ‘I didn’t keep you dry back there only to have you get wet over here.’

Feeling more relaxed the second time, I didn’t protest, instead glancing ahead onto the island to take in the view. Although I hadn’t seen it pre-cyclone, the destruction was obvious. With even more debris on the sand here than there’d been back on the mainland, it looked like a war zone, or what I imagined a war zone to look like.

Dan lowered me to the ground. ‘Told you it was a mess. Bill turned an almost barren island into a tropical paradise and now this is all that’s left.’ He paused as if to collect himself. ‘I’m kind of glad the old bloke isn’t around anymore. Seeing all his hard work destroyed would have broken his heart.’