After dinner they sprawled on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms. Mark traced his fingers up and down Nicky’s hip while Adele played softly in the background. ‘Make You Love Me’, the song they first kissed to, came on and they looked at each other and smiled.

‘You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.’ He brushed her long black hair aside and kissed her freckled cheek.

No one had ever called her beautiful before.

‘And I’m the luckiest woman in the world.’ She rolled over and sat on top of his hips, running her fingers through his short black beard.

‘Good.’ He reached up and pulled her head towards his, kissing her long and hard.

Happiness surged through Nicky. Her life was more perfect than she ever could have imagined.

Nicole stretched, trying to loosen the crick in her neck. She’d slept the night in the car, too afraid to go back in the cottage in the dark and face whatever beast was residing in there.

She’d have to summon some courage from somewhere, though. There was no way she could spend another night in that cramped back seat.

Looking at the cottage in the stark morning light, she could see the decay the evening shadows had hidden.

Perched atop the peninsula, it sat all alone, a scar upon the green landscape. The corrugated roof was peeling off in sections, and its pale blue wooden exterior was covered in dirt so thick in places it almost looked like stucco. White – once white – posts separated the wrap-around verandah from the iron roof overhang, looking tired, as if they’d give way at any moment.

No wonder no one else had taken on the cottage. She knew six months free rent in exchange for light renovation had seemed too good to be true, but she had little choice. At least it was a roof over her head, despite the disrepair, and right now she needed that more than anything else.

‘Okay, then,’ she said aloud. She had a job to do.

Tiptoeing into the cottage, she listened for any sound that her creature housemate was inside. She peered into what she assumed was the living room. There, in the corner, a grey–brown lump was curled up tightly.

‘Yah!’ she screamed and the animal sat up, alert. It was the largest possum Nicole had ever seen and it didn’t look too happy to see her.

She shouted and waved her arms about and chased the unwanted guest out the back door. There was a small hole in the screen and she guessed that was how it had been getting in. From the stench in the place, she guessed it had been making the living room its home for quite some time.

Nicole walked around the cottage, inspecting for any other holes that a stray animal could use as an entry point.