Sophie grinned. ‘If you guys would have us, I’m sure the others would come on board. And I reckon I can twist their arms to do it for free since it’s such a good cause. What about food?’

The next half hour was spent throwing ideas around and when the kids returned, demanding it was time for the marshmallows, we were all mega excited and had even set a tentative date for the ball in the spring.

Once the marshmallows had all been scoffed, the kids and teens wandered down to the shore, leaving the adults alone. Dan sat next to me on the ground and while those around us grew louder the more they drank, we sipped our beers more slowly and talked in whispered voices.

He surprised me when he said he’d been reading my blog. ‘It’s really good. Even though you’re writing about a female experience and I don’t have kids, I can relate to a lot of what you feel, but it also made me laugh. I like your self-deprecating tone.’

‘I can’t believe you read it!’ My cheeks burned and it wasn’t because I was close to the fire.

‘I didn’t only read it, I subscribed. I can’t wait to read what you publish next.’

‘Oh my God—you’re BeachBoy77?’

He gave me a sheepish smile. ‘Pretty unoriginal username—I thought you might have guessed.’

I laughed, unable to believe that while I’d been lying in bed late at night pondering the letters and the mystery of his possible father, he’d been thinking about me. I’d noticed one new subscriber—bringing the grand total to three, including Hayley and Jedda—and had been stoked to have caught the interest of someone who didn’t know me. Turns out I hadn’t, but that didn’t stop the buzz that came with Dan’s admission.

‘Now I’m going to second-guess everything I write.’

‘Don’t,’ he said. ‘Keep doing exactly what you’re doing.’

I wanted desperately to ask him about the whole Bill-Stephen thing again, but didn’t want to risk anyone else overhearing, however when Dan suggested we go for a walk to check on the kids, I couldn’t resist.

We took our sweet time walking down to the ocean and occasionally Dan’s hand swinging by my side would brush against mine and send a shiver of something pleasurable but also terrifying through my body. I had this ridiculous urge to grab hold of it, but if Dan had similar thoughts, he didn’t act on them. Perhaps it was because we weren’t entirely alone or maybe he meant it when he said he simply wanted to be friends; either way I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved.