The kitchen was small, red tiles on the floor, and a wooden table with a cactus on it and a laminated booklet of instructions. Jude opened the cupboards: there was four of everything, dinner plates and side plates and bowls, glasses and tumblers. She opened the fridge and it was clean and empty.

The living room was also small, with a bulky gray sofa, an armchair, an open fireplace but no wood to put in it, and a large flat-screen TV. The window looked over marshes and tall spindly trees that swayed like dancers on the horizon. The sea must be out there, she thought, and glanced again at her phone to check the time. If she was quick, she could have a walk before it got dark.

There was a message from Nat: How’s it going? She sent him a thumbs-up icon and a heart.

Up the narrow stairs, where there was a bathroom, a moderate-sized bedroom with a double bed, and a tiny bedroom with a single one where she laid her backpack, plugging her phone into the charger. It was colder up here. She wished she had packed a hot-water bottle.

She remembered Liam’s bag and jogged back down the stairs and outside to retrieve the holdall from the boot of the car. She put it on the double bed.

She had just over six hours before Liam’s train arrived. She couldn’t remember when she had last had so much unplanned time.

She drove Liam’s car further down the lane to the coast, and walked along the track with marshland on one side of her and mudflats and choppy gray sea to the other. Her feet sank into the claggy earth. Her trainers and the hem of her jeans were soaked and muddy. Wind coming off the sea pummeled at her, and the light was thickening. But she felt exhilarated. She took pleasure in the scouring wind on her face, the rumble of the waves. There was nobody around. Nobody apart from Liam knew where she was. By the time she got back to the car, it was hard to see where she was walking. She liked this darkness that she never experienced in her city life.

She stopped at the little shop on the way back. Liam had said to get in some food. What? She wandered the shelves, then bought some onions, mushrooms, garlic and rice. She would make a simple risotto. That meant buying oil. She added parmesan to the basket and a bottle of red wine and some crisps. She remembered salt and stock cubes at the last minute. The thought of sitting in the kitchen, eating a meal with Liam, was unnerving.

She texted Nat. Missing you.

At the checkout, the woman looked at her curiously.

“I’m staying at Springs Cottage,” Jude said brightly.

“It’s been empty a while,” said the woman.