Christian doesn't answer me as if he is thinking what to say. After a moment, we walked on in silence, hand in hand, letting the waves bathe our feet with their relentless ebb and flow. I glanced at him sidelong; he seemed hesitant, so I asked again by pulling his hand to stop and to stop to encourage him to speak.

"What are we doing here, Chris?" He took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Bella, this morning, I realised... I'm hopelessly in love with you!"

"What?! Chris, that might just be because we're caught up in this mess!"

We began to walk hand in hand along the beachfront;...