Liz blew him a kiss. ‘Don’t worry, I’m a big girl now. But thank you for caring.’ She stood up and began to put the supper things into the dishwasher. ‘I keep thinking of what it must be like for poor Will tonight. I’d hate to be in his head right now.’ She looked out of the kitchen window. ‘There’s one heck of a wind getting up, Matt. Was there a weather warning for tonight?’

Matt took his phone from his pocket. ‘I was too late home to catch the weather. I’ll check.’ He found his usual app and saw an amber warning sign flash up. ‘Uh-oh! High winds coming in from the east, could reach sixty miles per hour in this area. God, where did these summer storms and high winds come from? I swear we never had them when I was growing up here.’

‘Climate change, dear.’ Liz stared at the trees whipping back and forth. ‘It’s rather dramatic out here on the coast, isn’t it?’

Matt laid his phone on the table. ‘You can say that again. I’m going outside to see if there’s anything that needs securing. Looks like we’re going to have a rough night.’ He paused at the door. ‘Can you check where the flashlights are, sweetheart? And there are candles in the drawer in the hall. The last time we had one of these high winds, it took out the power for two days. We’d better charge our phones too, just in case.’

‘Aye, aye, Cap’n! Batten down the hatches.’

Outside, Matt saw at once that this was going to be a bad one. The winds were already building, the sky wild. He just hoped that both Little Anchor and Holland House remained safe. They were even closer to the Wash than he was. It looked as though poor Will was about to get another sleepless night.

* * *

Will Stonebridge sat on a chair at the bedroom window and looked out at the wind-torn garden. This was all he needed. For a few seconds he felt that if he were dealt one more blow, he’d simply snap.

Earlier, before it got dark, he had noticed that they had left the back gate open and had gone to close it. A strong breeze was blowing in, bringing with it a sudden squall which had drenched him in moments. In the hundred feet back to the house, the rain became a solid sheet of water that soaked straight through his shirt and trousers.