‘Hey, it’s not for me to judge. He’s a great kid, so all I know is you’re doing a good job as a mum.’
‘You don’t think I’m crazy for being so worried about him and the sea? I mean, he’s a good swimmer, getting stronger by the day.’
‘We all cope differently when something bad comes our way.’ He stopped short of telling her that Adrian, three years older than him, never went in the sea any more despite it being ingrained in him through family and his upbringing. Adrian was a strong swimmer, a proficient sailor, but what had happened had left an emotional scar that cut deep and his way of coping was to stay well away from the water in case it swallowed him whole.
‘I’d better get on,’ Maeve got to her feet. ‘Thanks, Leo. For the chat. I felt terrible the way we left things yesterday after I lost my temper. And then again today I was rude when you came in. Forgive me?’
‘Forgiven already.’ He followed her as she took her empty cup out to the kitchen and he waited at the counter until she emerged. ‘Is Jonah in a lot of trouble?’
She made a face to indicate Jonah coming through the door. She took payment from the boy Jonah was with for a can of cola and dropped money in the till for Jonah to have an orange juice and with them both ensconced at the table at the rear where Jonah shoved all his books and papers back into his backpack, she told Leo, ‘Not toomuch trouble, no. But as well as emptying the dishwasher each morning which is his usual chore, he has to help me prepare the dinner every night next week and he’s to come to the café straight after school rather than go home on his own.’
‘Sounds fair.’
She made sure they wouldn’t be overheard by her son. ‘As I said, Jonah can come to the boathouse again, but he’ll have to see out the week first. And I really don’t want him in the sea, not yet, and certainly not with the nights drawing in and the––’
‘Maeve.’ Leo stopped her, his voice low like hers so Jonah wouldn’t know what they were saying, ‘I heard you when you asked me not to take him in the sea earlier. Whatever rules you have, I’ll abide by them, you don’t have to worry. But I like his company, he’s welcome any time. As long as you are ready.’
With an air of relief she smiled. ‘Thank you, Leo. That’s good to know.’
He waved across at Jonah who gave him a hopeful wave back and when he winked he thought he might have seen Jonah’s eyes twinkle as he hoped the same, that he might soon be back at the boathouse.
Chapter Eight
Nina
Nina started her morning by washing down the walls in the lounge area with sugar soap. She couldn’t even remember the last time they were painted, let alone cleaned. Then again, who cleaned their walls on a regular basis? She certainly didn’t. There were cobwebs in the corners, dirty marks here and there, and outlines from where a couple of pictures had been. Those pictures were now stacked ready to take to a charity shop. Both scenes of the sea with boats, they were too dated for the look Nina wanted to give the place ready for sale.
She screwed up her face at the sight of the filthy water lurking in the bucket, the same it had been on her last cleaning stint here. Three walls down, one to go. She left the cloth on the kitchen bench top, retied her ponytail that kept working itself loose and picked up the bucket to get rid of the water. She’d tip it outside this time, watering the small patch of grass at the front of the cabin that didn’t add all that much, but at least injected a nice green if the grass was looked after.
At least being busy stopped her thinking about Leo and whoever he might be involved with now and her face broke into a smile the moment she stepped out onto theveranda because not only had the sun graced them with its presence, but her grandad was meandering down the slope towards the cabin arm in arm with Camille.
Nina tipped out the water. ‘I thought I was crashing here to give you some space.’ She gave him a big hug. ‘Don’t tell me you’re missing me already?’ She’d come here armed with an airbed and a sleeping bag along with a pillow so she could sleep here from now on and get cracking this morning with an early start.
‘We thought we’d come and support you,’ said Camille. ‘We parked at the top of the track and walked down.’ She let Nina link Grandad’s arm instead of her and brandished a container.
‘You’ve brought treats?’ Nina quizzed.
They stopped by the cabin and Camille opened up the lid of the container she had to reveal what was inside. ‘Salted caramel, especially for you.’
Nina’s tiredness she’d felt after tackling those walls abated at the sight of the fudge. ‘You didn’t have to go to any trouble.’
‘No trouble at all. I enjoy making it and I can’t very well eat it all myself. Well I could, but I shouldn’t.’ She indicated a second plastic container in the bag looped over her shoulder. ‘I’ll just take this lot over to Leo’s, he loves it too, remember.’
How could she forget? And when she heard his name it made her think of his reaction when he’d seen her for the first time in so many years. She hated the hurt she saw, the resentment. And she couldn’t blame him at all.
She led Grandad inside the cabin. ‘I’ll get cleaned up and we’ll have some fudge and a cup of tea. Sit on either sofa,’ she encouraged. With a re-cover they’d look good asnew and she could spruce the furniture up even more if she added cushions in a variety of designs.
In the bathroom Nina scrubbed her hands clean, and back in the kitchen wasted no time flipping the brand new kettle she’d bought yesterday on to boil before taking a crumbling block of fudge from the container to pop in her mouth. She closed her eyes as she chewed and when she opened them again Camille was back. ‘As good as I remember,’ she complimented.
‘It’s been a few weeks since I came here to check up on the place,’ said Grandad as Camille accepted Nina’s offer of a cup of tea. He looked around. ‘It always brings back such wonderful memories whenever I’m here. It smells clean already.’
‘Funny that,’ Nina chuckled. ‘And we did have some wonderful summers didn’t we?’
‘You kids had a ball down here,’ Camille put in as Nina handed her a cup of tea. ‘Me and Malcolm were busy running the boathouse most of the time when we were in charge, then helping out when we passed it down a generation, but I remember spending my lunch hours and the after-school hours making sure none of you got up to too much mischief.’
Nina hoped she wasn’t blushing at the comment. As youngsters it had been a case of watching her and Leo so they didn’t get into trouble in the water or so that neither of them climbed the trees that were so high that if you fell it would be a disaster. But Leo and Nina had also been caught making out when they first moved from friendship to something more and Nina would rather forget the look of absolute horror on Camille’s face walking in on her and Leo in bed together.
‘I was exhausted most of the time,’ Grandad chuckled, rescuing Nina from any further scrutiny from Camille. ‘We’d watch you here, playing outside or we’d take you to and from the beach. But it was good for us. Elsie and I always agreed that having you kids around so much kept us young.’ He winked. ‘I loved every moment.’
