Tabitha wandered back over to the rattan sofa and picked up her notebook. She sensed that Julie would have liked to have talked for longer but was probably conscious of taking up too much of her time. She liked her, though, her quiet and unassuming demeanour quite a contrast to Cordelia’s confidence. Tabitha decided she’d make a conscious effort to chat with her if she saw her across the fence.

* * *

What was left of Sunday afternoon rolled by at a leisurely pace, the dogs keeping Tabitha company as she pottered about and lazed by the pool before taking a dip, the evening sun deliciously warm on her bare shoulders.

When Elspeth messaged asking how her first couple of days had gone, Tabitha replied with a selfie of her in the pool clasping a glass of G&T. Elspeth’s reply was swift.

You make me sick…

Quickly followed by:

Love you though. Xxxx

Tabitha smiled and sent a kiss emoji back. She spent another twenty minutes in the pool watching the sun slide towards the horizon before padding wet footprints across the paving to her room.

After an evening spent in front of the TV with Bailey sleeping by her feet and Fudge curled on the sofa next to her, she went to bed with a sense of calm contentment.

5

Tabitha had barely nodded off when she thought she heard something. She opened her eyes. The room was blindingly dark. She lay still, listening. On the end of the bed, Fudge stretched and yawned, shifting over until his head and paws were resting on her feet.

It was probably nothing. It always took a few days to get used to somewhere new, its sounds and the feel of a place, particularly at night. She was glad the curtains were closed across the French doors. The view into the garden was spectacular, but at night, the darkness was suffocating and her overactive imagination fixated on thoughts of ghostly figures peering in.

As she rolled onto her side in an attempt to get back to sleep, she heard a thud, as if something had been dropped on the floor.

Now wide awake, she held her breath and listened harder. Nothing beyond Bailey and Fudge snoring. Perhaps she’d been mistaken? Although two cute Cavalier King Charles spaniels were hardly the best guard dogs.

Through the open bedroom door, a faint light suddenly filtered in. Tabitha swallowed. She gently manoeuvred her feet out from beneath Fudge. He briefly raised his head before flopping back down again.

Footsteps.

Tabitha’s heart raced. She slipped from under the covers and silently crossed the room.

Fudge jumped off the bed and landed with a thud. Tabitha froze. The footsteps paused too. Fudge sat on the floor and started licking himself.

With sweaty palms, Tabitha crept from the room, along the hallway towards the faint glow of lamplight, bad idea, bad idearepeating over and over in her head. She wished she was holding something she could bash over an intruder’s head if it came to it…

A shadowy figure loomed in the doorway of the living room.

Tabitha screamed.

‘Shit!’ the deep-voiced shadowy figure exclaimed. ‘Who the hell are you?’

‘Who the hell am I?’ Tabitha managed to catch her breath enough to speak. ‘Who the hell are you?’

‘I asked first,’ the deep voice said, far more calmly than Tabitha was feeling.

She stared wide-eyed at the shadowy intruder. ‘You need to get out!’

He moved further into the hallway.

‘I’ll call the police,’ she said forcefully. Not that she had her phone on her or knew the number.

‘I’m just going to turn on the light,’ he said gently as if she was a frightened animal. He reached his hand to the light switch.

Tabitha blinked in the sudden brightness. Standing in the hallway with a bemused look was a man around the same age as her, wearing snug-fitting jeans and a Foo Fighters T-shirt. He was tall, with the build of Chris Hemsworth and not dissimilar to Tom Hardy with dark hair and thick stubble, tattooed arms and brooding good looks.

Holy moly was he hot.