‘Why?’

‘Because he doesn’t get it,’ Hannah said. ‘He doesn’t get how much he hurt my mum, even though she divorced him. He thinks he can come back whenever he feels like it and play happy families, that Mum will accept him being in her house for the sake of me and Mike, that we won’t resent how little he’s been around, or how he thinks it’s OK to waltz in for five seconds and then leave again.’ She was shocked at how angry she sounded.

‘Shit, Hannah, I’m sorry,’ Noah said softly. ‘You said you trained to be an eco-consultant for him?’

She dropped her head, even though he wouldn’t be able to see her expression anyway. ‘Partly. He was absent so much of the time, but that meant that – when I was little, at least – seeing him was a treat. He’s such a gregarious person, full of life and laughter, and because he was never around to do the parenting, he didn’t have to be responsible.’

‘He was the fun guy while your mum had to put her foot down.’

‘Exactly,’ Hannah said, swallowing. ‘And I bet Mum hated that, but she never said anything to us. So I guess I wanted to get my dad’s attention. To prove to him that I was worth more of his time. I wanted what I did to matter to him, so that I would matter to him.’

‘Hannah, that’s—’ he cleared his throat.

‘What about you?’ she asked, before he could go on. ‘Will you be with your mum and dad?’

He didn’t reply immediately, as if he wanted to spend more time talking about her, but he relented, saying, ‘Yup. They would never forgive me if I didn’t have Christmas with them. That’s why it’s good that I’m here for a few days. I’ll be back in my own house before Christmas Day, but the less we’re on top of each other in the mean time, the better.’

He hadn’t mentioned Beth, or what he’d said to her in the steam room. But then the day hadn’t exactly been a quiet one. ‘Why aren’t you—’ she started, then shivered. ‘God, can you feel that?’ The icy blast appeared at the same time as she saw the light: a thin strip of yellow under the door. ‘Is there a window open somewhere?’

‘You’re cold?’ he asked.

‘You aren’t?’

His hand came over hers. His skin was warm, and she heard his sharp intake of breath. ‘You’re like ice.’

‘Is someone in the corridor?’

Why could she feel it when he couldn’t? Was Anna communicating with her because she identified with her – because Hannah wanted someone forbidden? Was this Anna’s way of telling her to back off?

‘I don’t think so,’ Noah murmured. ‘The corridor only leads to the spa, so unless a guest has managed to get seriously lost …’ He stood up slowly, releasing Hannah’s hand, and stalked towards the door. Hannah followed him as quietly as she could, stopping behind him as he reached out to grasp the handle and slowly, slowly, pushed it down and pulled the door towards him.