‘That’s not true,’ Vivienne said. ‘If I wanted to be alone with Nick, we’d have gone away just the two of us.’

‘Bullshit. You needed me with you so that Adam wouldn’t suspect anything. So you planned to be in Crete the same week Nick was going to be here with his friends. You knew what it would do to me, but you went ahead and arranged it anyway.’

‘Being single is your choice,’ Vivienne said. ‘You’ve chosen the moral high ground instead of happiness.’

‘I’ve already told you, I have too much self-respect to let a married man string me along.’

‘He wasn’t stringing you along,’ Vivienne said. ‘If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself. Look. He’s coming over.’

Clodagh turned to go, but it was too late. Gary was here, standing in front of her, smiling that sheepish smile she’d once found so hard to resist.

‘I never meant to upset you by coming on this holiday, Clodagh. I should have stayed away, but when Nick said you were going to be here with Vivienne I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see you again and explain.’

He was wearing his pilot’s uniform, the same one he’d been wearing the night she first met him. She’d gone out with a group of friends to a wine bar near St Paul’s cathedral. Several times, she’d noticed him, standing at the bar by himself. He kept looking over, smiling every time he caught her eye. At some point in the evening, she’d bumped into him on the way back from the toilets. They’d got talking and ended up going home together when the bar closed. She’d been seeing him for a month when he told her he was married. Somehow, he’d convinced her to stay, promising he was on the brink of getting a divorce. Six months later, when he still hadn’t left his wife, Clodagh had told him it was over and she never wanted to see him again.

‘You’re flying today?’ she said. ‘I thought you were here on holiday.’

‘The captain’s got food poisoning,’ Gary said. ‘The airline have asked me to step in.’

Clodagh realised she didn’t care. She didn’t want to spend another second with him.

‘Please, Clodagh,’ he said. ‘I’ve left Bella. I’ve wanted to tell you all week, but you haven’t given me the chance. You’ve been doing everything you can to avoid me.’

‘I came on this holiday to spend time with my sister,’ Clodagh said. ‘Not to listen to your pathetic excuses.’

‘They’re not excuses. My marriage is over. The divorce came through a few weeks ago.’ He moved towards her but she stepped back, out of his reach.