City of LOVERS

Was Steph's rekindled relationship with Dave really going to have a happy ever after?

- Alison Carter

I had no idea it could get so cold in Venice.'

Dave had his nose pressed to the hotel room window and was looking out over the tiny square. They were minutes away from the Piazza San Marco, but all Steph could see was the back of another hotel, and a hard, steel-coloured sky above. Her phone said that the temperature outside was just one degree.

'We should have checked, she said.

Dave turned. 'Well, let's at least get out and see the city.

'Especially after last time.' Dave laughed. 'That was a washout.' 'In so many ways.' He walked over and lifted a sweater from the small suitcase lying open on the bed.

'You have this. It's big enough to fit two of you inside, and you can pad it out with T-shirts. I've got my blazer and I'll steal a towel to keep my neck warm.' Then he threw a pair of socks at her and she caught them.

'Thickest we've got,' he said.

The airline had lost their second case, the one with the padded jackets, and there seemed to be no prospect of getting them back by the end of the city break. But this was their second try at Venice, and there was no way either of them was going to give in and sit in front of the hotel room telly. They were in the world's most romantic city, after all.

Dave and Steph had been married once, a long time ago, and for only three years. Since then, both had remarried and divorced. They had remained friends through the intervening years, and then a year ago, something had happened a shift in their attitude to each other, followed by a kiss, and more kisses, and staring at each other in amazement.

Dave had proposed in the autumn, and it seemed that, astonishingly, there was going to be another wedding.