That was her whole problem. It’s why she’d got into this whole plan at the start. The Tristan she’d been with was the ‘affair Tristan’， the one who could be as sexy and romantic as he liked, because the harsh truth was – affairs were not real life. Even when they were long-term. And she could see now, that for men like Tristan, the thrill was what it was all about. He had her now. They had both lost their partners in a tragic accident. No one would find it odd if, in a few months’ time, they became close. That sort of thing happened all the time.
Luckily she’d been putting some plans of her own in place, alongside the one that she and Tristan had put together, first over coffees, then drinks. Then in snatched moments after illicit sex in any place they could find. She might be too trusting, but she knew enough about human nature to know that she needed security. Just in case. Like the money, for a kick-off.
She wondered, what he would do when he realised it was gone?
Thirty-One
SATURDAY NIGHT
Tristan was glad when they made it to the top of the stone steps and into the meadow. From what he could see on the map, the route was now meant to take them across the top path of a steep pasture. Yes, they could still fall, but the worst that could happen is they’d roll into a sleeping sheep. Or a sleeping shepherd.
He thought back to that guy from earlier, the one that Ginny had been convinced was at the bar in the restaurant. Tristan couldn’t remember taking much notice. He’d been too busy watching Cat. He’d loved watching her trying to keep a straight face when he’d run his foot up to her crotch. Typical Ginny, getting herself worked up about nothing. So what if the guy had been at the bar? He clearly lived in the area.
After the meadow, they would have to snake a path through the woods to get to the place they planned to spend the night. No chance of falling any distance in that part, but it didn’t mean there weren’t any other dangers lurking in the woods at night. He would have to be vigilant. He had to look after Cat.
They were never meant to be doing this in complete darkness.
The beam from Cat’s torch was helping a little. They’d been lucky, too, that the sky had remained cloudless, and the moon was casting a much-needed, yet muted, glow. But there were pockets of pitch-blackness that would make anyone’s imagination run riot.
They forged on ahead. Cat shone the torch into the trees, but Tristan grabbed her hand, directing the beam down to her feet, where it shrank to a bright-white dot.
He held a finger to his lips. ‘Shh.’
‘What is it?’ she hissed.
He said nothing. Waited. And then watched her face as she heard it for herself. A twig snapping. A faint rustling in the trees.
He held his breath, waiting for another sound. But none came.
‘An animal?’ She tried to sound hopeful. ‘Could be a deer?’
Tristan sniffed. ‘Or that shepherd weirdo is still about.’
Cat wrapped her arms around herself, and the torch beam disappeared behind her. ‘Why would he be? He’ll be in his hut, or his house, or wherever it is he goes at night.’
He looked into the trees, but couldn’t see anything other than blackness.
An owl hooted, and he flinched. Fuck’s sake. He was getting jumpy now.
‘This is madness,’ Cat whispered. ‘We can’t stay here overnight. How far is it to the shelter?’
He kind of agreed with her, but they didn’t have much of a choice now. She shone her torch around, and the beam caught on a signpost that they’d missed earlier. She stepped away from him and walked closer to the sign, shining the beam towards the top, where arrows pointed to the left, the right and straight on.
‘Cat . . .’
‘Look. Which one of these takes us back down? This one says forty-five minutes. We can do that, can’t we? Even in the dark?’
He walked up behind her and pulled her arm back, dropping the beam down again. ‘It’s too risky. It’ll be pitch-black on that descent. You need to abseil down a bit using chains. No way we can do that right now.’
She shifted away from him, shone the torch back on the sign. ‘Abseil? Are you sure?’
‘I researched this all, Cat. Like you asked me to. It’s the quickest route, but it’s slippery and hazardous, even in the daytime. We’re both exhausted. We need to rest a while, then tackle it at sunrise.’ He wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzled her ear. ‘You need to trust me on this.’
He felt her sink into his arms.
There was another rustling in the trees, but it sounded like, whatever it was, it was moving away from them. Definitely an animal, then. Spooked by their presence as much as they were by it.