‘I wasn’t sure. And then when you said you didn’t like surprises, I really wasn’t sure. I was hoping you’d come round although I thought at first I’d made a terrible mistake.’

‘Well, hello. Excuse me for being a little frightened when a huge great fish jumped out of the water! It’s not exactly what I was expecting.’

‘Sorry.’ His sheepish grin as he reached across the table to take her hand made it clear he wasn’t that sorry and, if she was honest, he had no need to be.

‘You don’t need to apologise. Well, maybe a little, as I was flipping terrified at first but now… oh my goodness, how could I have ever missed it? That’s something people dream of but never get to experience. He was right there in front of us, communicating with us. And I’d have missed that.’

She’d missed a lot, she realised. A memory slid back. A swimming pool on a campsite in France. It had been the first day of their holiday, a gorgeous sunshine-filled morning that had them all hurrying to the poolside. Mina, impulsive as ever, had immediately made a running jump into the pool, curling up into a ball as she hit the water with an almighty splosh. Her aunt had let out a worried moan before saying, ‘It might be deep. You don’t know. So dangerous. Oh she’s just like— Please be careful, Hannah.’ So Hannah had walked around to the shallow end and waded in slowly, rather than jumping in after Mina like her initial instinct. It had set the pattern. Being cautious. Not wanting to upset her aunt. Not wanting to be just like her mother.

‘Penny for them.’ Conor’s warm hand squeezed hers. She liked the feel of it, almost like an anchoring bringing her back but not weighing her down.

‘Just pondering on what makes us who we are.’

‘Heavy stuff.’

‘Sorry. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m a coward. I really wouldn’t have gone in the water if I’d known about Fungie or the sharks. I’d have been too busy thinking of the potential dangers, what could go wrong.’

‘Some might say that’s sensible. Not cowardly.’

‘Yes but sometimes you can be too sensible. Sometimes you have to take a risk. Do things even though there might be danger because otherwise you miss out on so much.’ Now she thought about it, that swimming pool incident had rankled. She could still remember imagining the sensation of flying through the air and breaking the surface of the water with a splash, even though it had never happened. She remembered Mina bobbing up, triumph all over her face, her blonde hair slicked down her cheeks, grinning with delight. Mina, who’d taken a risk staying in Switzerland and ended up meeting Luke.