Now I had a dilemma. I could quite easily pass this job on to another interpreter, in order to avoid seeing Mike again. But I wasn’t in a position to give up work, and by walking away I felt like I would be proving Mike right about some of the things he used to say to me, some of the things that still haunted me in weak moments. My involvement with the school would last as long as the investigation into the head teacher’s death and until Leon was found. I’d just have to put up with him until then, and avoid him whenever possible.

I’d carried on walking as I thought, and when I looked up I couldn’t place where I was in the park. Walking away from the cabin, further away from the mansion house, I’d wandered into part of the park I was unfamiliar with. I knew I should turn around and follow my own footsteps back to the cabin, but I didn’t want to face Mike again until it was absolutely necessary.

Ahead of me was a stand of trees, so I continued in that direction for a few minutes, trying to focus on the job ahead of me rather than think about my ex. There was a crunch of footsteps behind me, however, and I looked round to see Mike approaching. He’d put on a bulky coat and thick gloves before leaving the cabin, and I wondered how long he’d been on my tail.

‘Do they need me back?’ I asked.

‘No,’ he said, stopping before he got too close. ‘I just thought we could talk.’

I looked around me at the snow-covered fields and the woods surrounding them. There was nobody else around, and our voices sounded eerily flat. Part of me was instinctively on edge, being alone with Mike, even in such a wide-open space.

‘What about?’ I replied.

He spread his hands wide. ‘Anything. Everything. We didn’t exactly get any closure, did we?’

I folded my arms and didn’t reply. What did he expect me to say? Anna and Gem had removed all of his stuff from the flat while I was in hospital, and had the locks changed just in case. He’d never tried to talk his way back into my life, although I’d had a few calls from him to begin with that stopped when I continued to ignore them.

‘How have you been?’ he asked, taking a step forward and giving me the smile that used to make me melt. I reminded myself that it had probably worked on dozens of women before and after our relationship, and during as well. I knew I had to stay strong in the face of his charm, though.

‘I’m not interested in catching up, Mike. Let’s just both do our jobs and leave it at that.’