Cover

Dedication

For Vic

PART ONE

Chapter One

Day One

The island is invisible. Dark clouds hang like waterlogged blankets over the loch: I can’t tell where the horizon ends, and the sky begins. I shiver, wrapping my arms around myself to keep out the chill, damp air. I hoped it would be sunny – it’s August after all – but I suppose it is Scotland, and the weather, damp and miserable as it is, seems fitting, as if I’ve conjured it from inside my head.

I try to remind myself why we’re here; it’s our honeymoon, albeit delayed by two months and no longer the Greek island paradise we had originally planned, booked and paid for. But, on the bright side, it’s going to be just Liam and me. We’ll be the only people on the island, staying in an eighteenth-century forge converted into a luxury holiday home. We’ll spend a whole week snuggled in front of the log fire, exploring the forests and Celtic ruins, walking the wild and windswept beaches, and trying to put the past behind us – at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I’m praying it works out that way.

Liam finishes talking to the boatman and hurries across the pebble beach towards me. He’s tall and dark and even from this distance I can make out the arctic blue of his eyes.

My mum thought he looked like Leonardo DiCaprio in his Titanic days. And it’s true: there is a likeness, a similar sparkle in his eye and a boyish charm. As he walks towards me across the pebble beach, I feel as if someone has called ‘action’ and I’m an actress starring in a movie. It still feels unreal to me that we’re actually married; that I’m Liam’s wife. I smile at him and he grins back, making my stomach flip. I suppose it’s normal for newlyweds to feel this way, and I sometimes wonder if the butterflies in my stomach will ever go away, because I can’t imagine it.

‘The man says he’ll take us over as soon as the weather eases,’ Liam says when he reaches me. The boatman has disappeared somewhere, probably to wait out the weather.

‘How long will that be?’ I ask, frowning up at the petulant sky.

Liam shrugs. ‘Not long. He seemed to think it’ll clear up soon. Let’s go and grab a beer while we wait.’

‘Sounds good.’