‘Wouldn’t it be best if Dominic or Owen dealt with this?’ he said. ‘I’m not really too involved with the business these days.’

‘Owen told me to tell Dominic, who in turn said he’s busy with some important clients and to tell you about it. He said you were on duty tomorrow so you’d need to know.’ Heidi looked awkwardly down at her feet.

Harry reined in a sigh and reminded himself not to shoot the messenger. However, he could easily throttle both his brothers right now. ‘Don’t worry. These things happen, especially at the start when there are teething problems. Thanks for letting me know. Just sit tight and we’ll wait to see what happens in the morning.’

After Heidi left him, Harry took the opportunity to enjoy a brief moment of solitude. He was out of practice with the socialising these types of events required and was reminded just how tiring it was being nice to people all the time. Although, on reflection, the one person who it hadn’t been a trial to be nice to was Steph. He’d happily be even nicer to her. This thought he then knocked back into shape by reminding himself that she was a reporter and he needed to keep an eye on what he said and an eye on what she did. For some reason Dominic was suspicious of her. Despite this, Harry found himself wanting to prove his brother wrong, and what better way than getting close to Steph?

Chapter Fifteen

Conmere, Saturday, 11 May, 7.00 a.m.

Harry woke up the next morning and for the first time since arriving at Conmere actually felt in a good mood. He stretched out an arm to silence the alarm clock and thought about the day ahead. It was then the reason for his good mood struck him. Steph Durham. He was meeting her that morning for a trek up to the lake.

The lake wasn’t the ideal place from Harry’s point of view. He swung his feet onto the floor and rubbed his face. He mustn’t dwell on what had happened to Elizabeth. It was too dark a place to go and he certainly didn’t want it to hang in the air while he was up there with Steph. He might even try to persuade her to go somewhere different. There were other nice places on the resort; admittedly, the lake was the centrepiece, but even so, he might be able to take a detour elsewhere.

He showered and went down for breakfast, looking out for Steph in the dining room. He didn’t think she was there at first, but as he scanned the room for a second time he caught sight of her sitting by the window at a table with several other guests. She looked up and gave a brief smile before returning to her conversation. Harry went out to the reception area.