She drove into a small hamlet, a collection of low rectangular white-washed cottages dotted to the right of the road overlooking the sea. On the side of the road was a small hotel, its wooden trim painted a deep royal blue, and opposite was a track leading down towards a car park and a wide expanse of sandy beach. Indicating, she pulled off the road and slowed to turn into the car park and stop the car. This time, when she got out, she went round to the boot, and dug out her walking boots and a windproof jacket. It might have been the tail end of August, but the wind was most definitely fresh.

There was a yellow-painted cafe doing a roaring trade in ice cream, and a surf hire shop on the edge of a wide, flat beach. To the left, a range of sand dunes covered in coarse grass stretched along the length of the beach out into the sea and opposite, across the narrow stretch of sea, hills rose as dark green shadows against the sunny sky. As she ambled along the beach she wondered at the name, Inch Beach – somewhat of a misnomer as the land extended for several miles. Although busy with surfers, walkers, and families enjoying windswept picnics, it didn’t feel at all crowded. Stopping to breathe in long and deep, she watched a host of seabirds skittering backwards and forwards on spindly legs, synchronised in their busy searches with sudden changes of direction as they criss-crossed in and out of the wide shallows.

Fascinated by the birds, she watched and walked for a good twenty minutes, the peace seeping into every pore before she decided to turn back, grab an ice cream, and head to Killorgally. She smiled to herself as a little flutter of excitement danced low in her belly. Killorgally. Hopefully it would live up to her expectations, and hopefully the pictures in the Sunday supplement that had so entranced her had not been airbrushed and dressed to create a cosy farmhouse effect that didn’t actually exist outside the pages of a glossy magazine. It would be such a disappointment. Now that she was here, having stepped out of her comfort zone, she wanted it to be every bit as good as she’d imagined. This was her adventure and she wanted to live every minute of it.

Chapter Four

‘Welcome to Killorgally.’

The woman’s effusive greeting reached Hannah before she’d even managed to pull her case over the threshold of the small stone-built office. She rose from behind an untidy desk, skirting it to hold out a hand.

‘Hi, I’m Hannah Campbell. Here for the residential course.’

‘Hello, Hannah. How lovely to have you here with us.’ Her mellifluous words were filled with the sort of instant glowing warmth that suggested Hannah’s arrival was the highlight of her day. ‘I’m Adrienne Byrne.’