Steph walked briskly through the resort, passing the lodge she had stayed in at the weekend, and carried on along the path which threaded itself through the woods, only then realising she was heading towards the lake. She had been right about the light. The golden rays dipped into the water and sent a white, sparkly sheen across the surface. She spent some time taking various shots, some straight at the light and others from different positions around the south side of the lake. There were three little boats tied up about ten metres from the shore, which Steph assumed were currently off-limits. She wondered how the boats were brought to the pontoon so people could use them – maybe someone came down with a paddle board or perhaps even swam out to them.

Steph’s gaze stretched out across the water to the north edge and immediately her thoughts were filled with images of her and Harry in the bird hide. She walked round to the other side and followed the same path Harry had shown her before. It was so different in the sunshine than in the rain and she found herself repeating the shots she’d taken before, but this time in the glorious rays of the sun. After a few minutes scrambling up the path, Steph reached the bird hide, which, as before, was empty. She stood with her back to the construction and looked out across the water, surprised to see that, despite the sunshine, this corner of the lake was as dark and murky as before. It was almost as if the light couldn’t reach this part and the water was forever a dark and never-ending mass. She stepped nearer to the edge and tentatively leaned forward to look down the bank and into the water as if some magnetic force were pulling her towards it. It would be almost impossible to scramble up the sides if you fell in here. She suddenly swayed and stumbled to her right, but managed to regain her balance.

The sound of a text message on her phone startled her and she stepped quickly away from the edge. She blew out a long breath. It would be as easy as that to fall in.

The text message was from Harry.

So sorry but I’ve been trying to sort out a problem at work all day and now I’ve got to meet with Dominic and Owen. Definitely meet tomorrow though?

Steph couldn’t deny her disappointment at this. She had found herself increasingly looking forward to seeing Harry.

It was her turn to message back saying it was a shame but she’d look forward to seeing him tomorrow.