‘Where are they now?’

‘Heather’s in Edinburgh. She never wanted to settle here – not enough excitement. Or men. And Iain’s down in London. Some kind of financial whizz. He never wanted the estate, or what was left of it, fucked off out of here just as soon as he could.’

‘But you didn’t?’

Will thrusts his hands in his pockets, looks out to sea. ‘I tried. Went to Strathclyde Uni, studied engineering. I had this idea I’d go down to London, live with my dad in Balham. But …’ He snorts, looks down at his feet and the sand. ‘We lasted about a month. So I came back.’

Against my better judgement, I reach out and squeeze his arm. ‘I have a shitty dad too.’

He smiles, but for the first time it looks like an effort. ‘Probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway. Wherever I went. Something about this place, it just got under my skin and stayed there, I guess.’

‘You ever think of leaving?’

He gives me a sidelong glance, raises an eyebrow as he grins. ‘That an invitation?’

‘No,’ I say, too fast, like an absolute idiot.

‘I would,’ he says eventually, with a slow shrug. ‘For the right person.’

When I wisely keep my mouth shut, he lets go my gaze and starts toeing off his shoes and unbuckling his jeans. ‘Fancy a swim?’

‘What?’ I try very hard not to stare as he strips down to his underwear in seconds, but it’s impossible not to. His shoulders are broad and freckled; his muscles born of hard work rather than the gym, lean and ropey. Hair dusts his chest, follows a dark line down to his belly.

‘Come on, Maggie.’ He laughs, starts walking backwards into the waves. ‘Live a little.’

And I swallow, because I want to. God, do I want to. I kick off my shoes, and after just one more moment’s hesitation, start clumsily taking off my clothes, face burning. Will doesn’t try very hard not to stare; his grin gets wider and his eyes warmer.

The water is freezing. It’s so clear I can see the sand under my feet and between my toes. When I wade further in, I let Will take my hand again because those white-trimmed waves are big and high and impossibly loud. I shriek when they get bigger still, and Will catches me around the waist. He pulls me towards him, his hands warm, hair curling wet against his temples.

‘Not so bad, right?’ he says.

My teeth are chattering as I grin and hold on to his shoulders. And despite my I can’t do this of less than five minutes ago, the blood fizzes through my veins and my heart thump-thumps, like a ridiculous cliché, like I haven’t a care in the world. And then it’s true. For a moment – just a single fleeting wonderful moment – I don’t care about anything else at all.

*

We sit on the highest dune, sheltered against the bluff. I’m knackered and my skin stings. My mouth and cheeks ache from smiling. I look at Will’s arms as he reaches into his backpack, the flex of their muscles, the dark ropes of their veins.