‘Not to be disturbed,’ Leonid told him. ‘She vants to be alone,’ he added wickedly in his best Greta Garbo voice.
Only Izaak chuckled. Jowan seemed stricken.
‘I’ll get you some coffee,’ Leonid offered, but Jowan refused and gestured to the mistletoe.
‘Windfalls?’ he asked. ‘Is the estate as bad as I think it is?’
‘Worse. The whole chapel has crumbled,’ Leonid replied. ‘I’ve left messages for Bovis to gather his men, get it cleared as much as we can, before Minty sees it.’
‘She’s already seen it,’ Jowan told him, his eyes cast down.
Leonid and Izaak exchanged glances.
‘You should get home, check your cottage roof is all right,’ said Izaak.
‘I’ll stay, if you don’t mind. Put me to work,’ replied Jowan, his dry eyes turning watery. ‘Please. I need to work today, and I promised Minty I’d help her with the estate more, so that’s what I’ll do.’
The husbands led Jowan outside to where the wheelbarrows and shovels were already lined up. Jowan cast an eye over the untidy lawns. ‘To the chapel, then?’
‘To the chapel,’ Izaak replied, and the men pushed their barrows in silence along the path that led to the unsalvageable ruin behind the House. The gentle seascape was strangely altered in the chapel’s absence. Where yesterday there had been a vaulted roof peeping out through the rhododendrons, there was now only grey winter sky.
Arriving at the spot where Minty had stood horrified last night, Jowan set his barrow down and pushed up his coat sleeves. ‘Let’s fix this mess as best we can,’ he said.
The chapel walls and roof were beyond saving but, with effort, the tiled floor might be preserved, possibly the altar too. Perhaps even a few pews could be repaired but, Jowan brooded, his place in Minty’s affections looked far less salvageable than the sorry scene before him. Broken bricks and slates were one thing, but the ruins of his friendship with Minty was something else entirely. Where would he even begin fixing the mess he’d made of things?
Minty had been right. He had kissed her and regretted it. She’d told him she was afraid of losing his friendship and he hadn’t listened. He’d wanted to kiss her with a desperation that had shocked him, and yet the guilt that had hit him in the moments afterwards had shaken him even more. Now Minty wouldn’t get out of bed. Unheard of, especially when there was work to do and people waiting for their orders. He’d really blown it.
With a heavy heart, he bent his back and set to work.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Eve
‘What are you doing here?’ Alex stood by theDagalienlooking up at Eve framed inside the cabin beneath the tarp. ‘I don’t want any trouble!’
Alex couldn’t bear confrontation, far preferring the run-from-your-problems technique that had served her so terribly up to this point.
‘Word was, you were here,’ Eve told her, her whole body shaking. ‘I didn’t have an address but I figured I’d find the boat before I found you, and here I am.’
Alex’s heart hardened at the thought of how quickly the news would have spread back home but the state Eve was in had her concerned too. ‘You’ve been in there all night? You’re freezing,’ she said, unsure what was expected of her. ‘Look, just get back inside the cockpit.’
Eve retreated once more and Alex clambered inside after her. There was still the little gas stove, and fresh water and cocoa powder in there. She could warm Eve up, shut down any nonsense she wanted to tell her about how bad she felt, and send her on her way.
Instructing Eve to take the captain’s seat, Alex set about making the hot chocolate. Just one cup – she didn’t want to share anything else with Eve.
The familiar routine of lighting the gas flame and heating up the enamel pot gave Alex pause. She’d miss this, she knew. The quick pang of sadness mixed horribly with the awkwardness of Eve’s presence.
Eve always wanted to talk things over, getting to the bottom of everything. Alex couldn’t be more different – well, until she’d got to know Magnús. Tellinghimthings about herself was a relief and a joy, and the careful, solemn way he listened to her made it all the easier. Eve was no Magnús.
‘Let’s get this over with,’ said Alex, keeping her back to her friend who was sniffing tearfully in the cockpit, still dark even in daylight with its window covered over with tarp. ‘There really was no need for you to come here. It’s Christmas Eve. Shouldn’t you be with Stevie?’
Eve’s eyes dropped at her little boy’s name. ‘He’s at his gran’s for Christmas, with Maxwell. I’m letting them have some time away from me, the best Christmas present I could give them, eh?’ She tried to smile but her mouth contorted horribly and a little strangled sound escaped. Tears followed.
‘Stevie wants to be with you,’ Alex replied. ‘Take it from me, no child wants to be away from a parent at Christmas. You should get going soon.’
The water bubbled. Alex turned down the heat and opened the jar of powder, glad she had something to do while Eve said whatever she’d come to say.
She heard Eve inhale and blow out a long breath before she said, ‘Maxwell’s left me. For good. He’s living at his mum’s. I’ll go back to Port Kernou and Stevie’s coming to live with me after Christmas. We didn’t have time to tell the landlord we were leaving, so the house isn’t let yet.’ More tears followed, and Eve tried hard to stem them. ‘Sorry, it’s not me who should be crying.’
