She watched as the dolphin – yes she could see that now – jumped out of the water. Of course it was a dolphin because that was exactly what you expected to see in Ireland. Wasn’t the country renowned for its prevalence of dolphins – not!

‘Did you know it was here?’ asked Hannah, her voice shrill with the hangover of terror.

‘Yes.’ Conor flashed her one of his trademark megawatt grins, the sort that had clearly, in its TV heyday, garnered fans in their droves but at the moment was intensely irritating when her heart was still trying to beat its way out of her chest. ‘He’s famous in these parts.’

‘And you didn’t think to warn me.’ Her voice was so tight she could barely squeeze it out over her vocal cords.

‘Sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise and I wasn’t sure if we’d see him, although most of the boat tours guarantee your money back if you don’t spot him.’

Hannah stared at him. ‘You knew that was in the water.’ It was a surprise all right and not a good one. Why on earth had he thought it would be? If she’d known, she wouldn’t have stepped within twelve feet of a kayak, let alone immersed half of her body below the water line.

‘He’s a local celebrity. He’s been in the bay for the last twenty years. They think he got separated from his pod and ended up staying here. It’s very unusual for dolphins to be solitary but this one swam in one day and never left. Since then, he’s been very friendly; he loves interacting with humans.’

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ she said through pinched lips, giving him a baleful glare and looking longingly at the shore. ‘Shall we go?’

‘Trust me. If we wait a minute and we’re lucky, he might put on a show for us. He loves playing with the boats, racing them and teasing the tourists playing hide and seek. It would be a shame to miss it.’

Hannah wasn’t so sure about that. She’d far rather have seen him from the safety of a much bigger vessel, say a cruise liner, instead of the one she was currently paddling. She peered anxiously into the water on either side of her. ‘What if he capsizes us?’

‘I promise you, he’s perfectly safe. He’s never hurt anyone.’

‘There’s always a first time,’ muttered Hannah as she gave the water another dubious scan. ‘Do you think he’s gone now?’

She could almost see Conor weighing up the pros and cons of his answer.