They walked along the rattling gangplanks, long since bleached grey by the lashing winters and beating summers on the Baltic’s edge. No one had to be anywhere in a hurry, it seemed. A quartet of girls on bikes dawdled past, ringing their bells lazily, tennis racquets slung across their backs, brown legs levering up and down in micro-skirts, ponytails swinging.

Linus had brought his skateboard with him – excited by the prospect of dirt roads and makeshift pavements again – and began weaving expertly through the crowds. She saw Emil’s mouth open as he sped past and instinctively his arm went out – but too late; his son was already out of reach. Emil glanced back at her, as though for help, but when he saw her looking back at him, snapped around again, chin down.

She stared at the back of his head; he was pointedly walking two strides ahead of her, his baseball cap back on so that his face was obscured from casual, enquiring glances; nonetheless, she noticed he still somehow drew the eye, women looking over with latent interest, oblivious to the complicated history of the man. Too late, she remembered she hadn’t yet managed to get Linus to send his mother an email. After yesterday morning’s breakfast ruckus and Nina’s unannounced arrival . . . She picked up her phone and took some shots of Linus skateboarding ahead of them.

‘Bell!’

The shout made her jump and she wheeled round to find someone running towards her, jumping over a couple of kayaks that had been laid out on the ground.

‘Kris!’ She threw her arms up in delight as he picked her up and swung her around. ‘What are you doing here mid-week?’

‘I got a last-minute gig catering for a dinner on one of the bigger boats tonight,’ he said proudly, jerking his chin towards the sound.

‘No way!’ she gasped.

‘I’m just on my way to get the fish. Wanna hang for ten minutes? I could murder a beer.’

‘Oh.’ Her smile faded. ‘I can’t. I’m working.’ She looked over to where Emil and Linus had stopped, further ahead, looking back and watching them with curious stares.

‘Oh. I didn’t realize you were all together.’

‘No, well, I think that was the intention,’ she said under her breath.

‘Right.’ He frowned. ‘You okay, Hell? You look a little . . . wonky.’

‘Wonky?’

‘Out of sorts. Not quite right.’

She shook her head. ‘All good. Just working hard, around the bloody clock.’ She couldn’t help but groan.

‘You don’t mean that, I hope.’ He gave her a quizzical smile.

She twitched her nose. ‘Things have changed quite dramatically in the last few days,’ she sighed. ‘But it’s a long story. I’ll have to tell you properly when there’s time.’

‘At the weekend, then? Marc and Tove are coming back tomorrow night.’

‘No, I’ll be working this weekend, sadly. And the one after that. And the one after that.’

‘Hell, Bell, that’s crazy,’ Kris said sternly. ‘And it’s certainly not legal.’