‘Some lass, Rosa. Says she’s broken down,’ the man replied.

‘Let her in then. Honestly, Gavin!’ Rosa said impatiently. She strode down the hallway and shoved in front of him, opening the door. ‘Excuse my husband.’ I could see she was younger than her husband, maybe in her late forties. ‘Look at the poor lass, she’ll catch her death. Come on.’

‘Thanks.’ I smiled as she let me in. ‘I won’t impose long. I just need to call a taxi.’

‘I told you our phone’s not working,’ Gavin said. In the light of the hallway, I could see he was wearing thick tracksuit bottoms, a stained woolly green jumper. The house was sparse with no festive decorations, the smell of damp emanating from the walls.

‘Gavin’s right,’ Rosa explained. ‘Snow took our lines down. We can give you a lift though, can’t we, Gavin?’

Gavin scowled at the idea and his wife gave him a severe look. He sighed. ‘Fine.’

Ten minutes later, we were driving away from the loch. The couple sat silently in the front, the air oppressive. As we hit the road I’d travelled down two days before, I twisted around to stare at the lodge, its twinkling lights and majestic Christmas tree belying the drama I’d just left behind. Already I was regretting leaving like that, but there was no turning back now.

‘Friends of the McCluskys?’ Gavin eventually asked after a few miles of driving in silence, his eyes regarding me in the wing mirror.

‘No, not really,’ I replied. ‘I broke down and they let me stay for a day or two.’

‘Good you got out when you did then. They can suck you right in, those lot. A mess of a family.’

Rosa squeezed her husband’s arm and quickly shook her head.

‘Do you know them well?’ I’d asked, curious.

‘Not any more,’ Rosa said quickly.

‘Not for ten years,’ her husband growled.

She shot him another look. ‘Here we are,’ she said as we approached a small train station. ‘That’ll get you to Glasgow.’

I dug around in my bag for my purse but she twisted around in her seat and put her hand on my arm. ‘Don’t be silly. You just take care of yourself, okay?’ As she looked into my eyes, I saw an unbearable sadness in hers.

‘And keep as far away from the McCluskys as you can,’ Gavin added in a gruff voice.

What had they done to anger him so?

On the long train journey to London, I imagined Dylan looking around for me and finding my bag gone, replaced by the quick message I’d left on the bed with my number scrawled on it. Maybe he’d be angry, me just walking out like that? But I had left my phone number and I felt my tummy tingle in anticipation of hearing from him soon.