No matter how much my head said now wasn’t the right time to get entangled with another man, especially not one with the kind of baggage Dan was currently dealing with, my attraction grew every time we were together. And I found my mind drifting to him often even when we weren’t and every time it did, something deep inside me tingled. Of course, I wondered if this was simply because I hadn’t felt the touch of any man in months. The last couple of years, I’d barely been able to raise any enthusiasm for sex and now suddenly I was thinking about it as much as a teenage boy—perhaps it was a case of wanting what you couldn’t have.

To try and divert my unsettling thoughts, I apologised for the interruption of our conversation yesterday and added, ‘I guess since you’re letting everyone get excited about fundraising, it means you haven’t decided to accept Stephen’s deal?’

‘Hell no.’ He shook his head. ‘I refuse to be bought or bribed. His stupid ultimatum has only made me more determined. Not only am I going to do whatever I can to find out if Bill was my father, I’m going to keep pursuing public access to the island and I’m also going to run for shire president at the end of the year, try and wrench control of this town off Stephen. I can’t be the only one tired of him calling all the shots.’

‘That’s great.’ With his passion for Ragged Point and its people he’d make a great president. ‘I’m not sure I can vote, not being an official resident or anything, but you’ve got my support in any other way I can help.’

‘Thanks. That means a lot.’ Dan reached out, took my hand, gave it a quick squeeze and dropped it so fast again that I almost thought I imagined it.

‘If he’d been a good father,’ he continued, ‘maybe I’d feel like I owe something to him, but the only person I feel like I owe anything to is me … and I’m curious. I’m going to contact the police and see what they can do about cross-testing me and Bill. I doubt I’ll ever be able to find out who he really was, but at least if I can prove I’m his son, maybe they’ll release him to me and let me give him a proper funeral.’

I nodded, hoping this was the case, but unsure what would happen since Bill’s identity would still be a mystery.

‘I’ve been thinking about this a bit,’ I began. ‘Maybe you could do a DNA test?’

‘What do you mean? Isn’t that what the police will do?’