‘C’mon, you’re getting cold,’ he said. ‘Shall we go and get a cuppa? I could probably rustle up a biscuit too, although there’s no carrot cake these days. Nor cake of any kind, for that matter.’

‘Cake or no cake, that sounds nice.’ She paused. ‘But I’m not allowed in the officer’s mess.’

‘We can smuggle them up to my room, if you don’t think that’s too forward of me. It’s rather grand, and it has a terrific view.’

When he returned from foraging for tea and biscuits, she was sitting in Johnnie’s chair. For once it didn’t make him sad; it felt right to see her there.

‘You weren’t exaggerating about the view, you lucky thing. I could look at it forever.’ She stood and went to the window.

He put down the tea tray and went to her side. ‘This is the room I shared with Johnnie, you know.’

‘Oh Vic, I’m so sorry. Does it bring back sad memories?’

‘Sad and glad. Glad to have known him. We had a lot of fun together, he and I. We seemed to read each other’s thoughts, and made each other laugh. A lot. I’ve seen his widow and children a few times since, as well. They’ve become almost like family to me.’

‘Did I ever tell you that it was a friend of Mark’s piloting that seaplane?’

‘Captain Burrows?’

‘I was so worried that they’d find it was his fault.’

‘And I was terrified they’d find it was caused by the kit we’d installed. But in the end, it was a problem with the plane’s construction that no one could have predicted.’

‘All those deaths. And the war hadn’t even begun.’

‘But somehow it feels better, having you here.’ He put his arm around her. ‘I was so afraid I’d lost you, too.’

She turned and took his face in her hands. ‘You’ll never lose me again, Vic.’

It was the most passionate kiss he’d ever known. The shabby room, the view and the sound of the waves beyond the window seemed to melt away, the whole world reduced to the focus of her lips, her tongue and the fire of his desire.

The tea went cold.

It was the first time for both of them, a muddled, embarrassed, fumbled affair that in the end, against all odds, felt like the most perfectly natural thing in the world. Delicious, in fact, utterly overwhelming, beyond anything he could ever have imagined. And it seemed to be the same for her. Afterwards, as he watched her sleeping beside him in the narrow bed, he believed himself the happiest man in the world.

29

Dearest Kath,

I am now back at base and trying to sleep, but it is impossible. My heart still pounds when I think of the astonishing, wonderful things that happened between us yesterday, and I cannot put into words how much it meant. You are the most beautiful girl on the planet and it broke my heart to leave you. It feels so utterly and horribly cruel. We are meant to be together, not torn apart.