‘When I saw the way he was reacting, Adrian too, I started to get really worried.’
Nina nodded. ‘I figured we’d get wet and maybe feel a bit unwell if the boat rocked. I don’t think any of us were prepared for how quickly weather conditions would change and what that would do to us.’
Adrian had wasted no time turning to head back to shore after that, but trying to tell a party of youngsters who had beer in their bellies as well as a desire for fun that they had to make a sensible choice was next to impossible. Half of the party-goers had removed their buoyancy vests and Leo was picking them up from the cockpit, handing them out, imploring people to put them on, telling them the water was getting rough, hold on to something or you were going to go in.
‘I’d been out on the boat with Adrian and Leo plenty of times before,’ said Nina. ‘It had always been wonderful. I’d lie on the deck in the sun, or I’d read a book, we’d been rained on before but it had been refreshing rather than scary. But that night …’
Maeve shivered as though she were right back there. ‘I loved a good storm before that night, I’d get excited watching the grey clouds tumbling over one another inthe sky, the flashes of lightning, the rumble of thunder. But now I hate it.’
‘Adrian and Leo kept us as safe as they could.’
Everything had happened quickly once the Magowan brothers both grew more serious and conveyed the urgency to get back to shore. Up until that point the boat had been gently rocking side to side in a way that felt almost pleasant, like kicking back in a hammock after too much fun and food and being able to drift off a bit. But then suddenly it had been replaced by a fierce movement, yanking them one way and then the other and everyone on board had started to realise the seriousness of the situation; a few of them had looked close to vomiting with the motion of the craft. Nina remembered gripping the rail closest to her so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her hands were cold, wet, slippery, and she’d closed her eyes hoping she could hold on. And she’d only opened her eyes when she heard yelling. At first she’d thought it was a girl screaming and then she realised it was Adrian. He’d seen Rhianne go over the side. Leo had taken control of the boat, he’d killed the power, he’d called the coastguard, yelling above the din of the storm and all of them, knowing Rhianne was missing, had scoured the waters from onboard.
‘I told Adrian not to jump in after her,’ said Maeve. ‘If he’d been quicker …’
‘We all told him not to,’ Nina assured her, ‘don’t think it was you who delayed him, your fault he couldn’t find her. She went over quick enough and the current was too strong. It’s a blessing he’s as strong a swimmer as he is, or at least was, otherwise he might’ve died that night too.’
Maeve covered her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes as they both remembered the shouts, the voices muted when gusts of wind made yelling inaudible, the rain lashing against their faces making it next to impossible to see, the instability of the boat making everything that bit worse as the brutal seas did their best to capsize the rest of them.
Nina could remember the moment Leo stumbled over the buoyancy aid Rhianne had eventually put on and that he’d found sloshing about in a pool of water at the back of the boat. She was most likely so inebriated she’d taken it off, and while it had been a joke that it didn’t match her outfit, the way they’d laughed along with her suddenly hadn’t been funny at all. And all they could do was stare at the murky depths as Leo and a couple of the others helped Adrian back onto the boat when it became obvious that the water was winning against them and it was up to the coastguard now, as their boat drew closer, the lights almost blinding them with their beams searching out for the missing member of their party. They’d sent out a helicopter too but it was all in vain.
Rhianne had gone. In the water far too long to be revived by the time she was found.
Nina took a deep breath, fingertips stemming tears in the corner of her eyes when she realised she was about to cry. ‘I’m sorry, Maeve. I didn’t come in here today with the intention of upsetting either of us. I haven’t seen you in forever, this was supposed to be a nice catch-up.’ She smiled at the irony. ‘This is the total opposite.’
Maeve wiped her eyes too. ‘I’m just glad the customers haven’t needed me.’ She looked around to check that was still the case. ‘And I think I actually needed to talk, soI’m glad we did. Plenty of time to catch up after today, if you’re hanging around.’
‘Yeah, I’d like that.’ Nina wondered whether Maeve had kept this all bottled up just like her. ‘Have you talked to anyone else over the years? Your parents?’
Maeve shrugged. ‘Not really. Not since the day after it happened when I told Mum and Dad. None of us lot really even talked at the funeral either, did we?’
‘We were all too messed up, numb even.’ Nina had felt like an imposter that day, like she had no right to be there with Rhianne’s broken-hearted parents who surely must put some of the blame on the rest of the crowd on the boat that night.
‘I can’t get my head around what it must be like for Rhianne’s parents,’ said Maeve. ‘Rhianne has gone, we’re all still around. It doesn’t seem fair.’
‘No, it doesn’t. But they’ve managed to stay living here and according to Grandad they seem all right, happy even. I’ve no idea how. And perhaps “happy” isn’t the right word.’
Maeve’s face contorted. ‘I don’t know how any parent could possibly carry on after that. I mean, if anything happened to Jonah …’ She went over to turn on the lights inside the café as the skies darkened beyond the windows.
‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’ And Nina felt terrible too that she’d upset Rhianne that night on the boat, having a go at her when she looked like she was making a move on Leo. They were friends, she should’ve known Rhianne was doing nothing other than flirting, but the alcohol had gone to Nina’s head and she’d been quite spiteful with her words. It broke her heart that their last conversation hadn’t been a nice one. And whenevershe’d looked at Rhianne’s parents on the day of the funeral the argument had echoed in her ears and she’d felt wretched.
Maeve went over to serve a local who requested a slice of carrot cake and when she came back she asked, ‘Have you seen Adrian since he got back?’
‘No I haven’t, but then again I’ve kept myself to myself. His gran told me he’s not been near the sea or the boatshed though.’
‘His whole life was boats, the water.’
It was incredibly sad to think that not only had Nina hurt Leo, he’d had the pain of losing what he had with his brother. She had no idea whether Adrian would ever get that part of himself back, but she hoped so for his sake and for Leo’s.
Nina smiled. ‘You’ve got customers again.’
‘Won’t be a sec.’ Maeve served a group of teens who came in for takeaway milkshakes.
Nina switched the topic of conversation from tragedy to something more pleasant when Maeve came back over: ‘I still can’t believe you have a son.’
‘Neither can I sometimes.’
‘Are you with Jonah’s dad?’
