Maeve looked a little panicked, but answered pragmatically, ‘No, we’re not together.’
Married? Divorced? Nina’s eyes naturally fell to Maeve’s left hand and her ring finger which had nothing on it.
‘Talking of men,’ Maeve smiled before Nina could ask much else, ‘What happened to you and Leo? You were love’s young dream, I always thought you and he would get married, have kids; you know, the whole white picket-fence dream.’
Nina was glad of the light-hearted tone even though they were talking about Leo. It was easy with Maeve, they’d both been away, they both understood the pain from that time, the need to escape. It helped that they’d talked so openly already, not something Nina had expected coming to the café today. ‘It was my fault,’ she said. ‘I left without much of an explanation.’
Maeve nodded as though she understood that it wouldn’t have been easy. ‘Are you back for good do you think?’
‘I’m not sure what I’m doing to be honest. I came to sort out the cabin, but with my brother living abroad, I already realise that I’d like to be closer to Grandad.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘I don’t know,’ Nina shrugged. ‘I need to think about my options.’
Maeve looked out beyond the window. ‘I wasn’t sure about this move myself but I didn’t want to be without Mum and Dad and I knew deep down it was the best thing for Jonah. I can’t avoid the sea forever.’
‘I loved it as a kid, being so close to the beach, so for what it’s worth I think you’ve done the right thing for your little boy.’
Maeve smiled but soon flipped the conversation back to Nina again. ‘I heard from Jo that Leo is still single.’
‘Don’t get any ideas.’ And Nina wanted to hug Jo for coming in right at that moment and Maeve rushing to her side to take all her bags.
‘What on earth have you bought?’ Maeve asked her boss.
‘Baby clothes. Matt made the mistake of leaving me at the shops.’ She shrugged, smiling across at Nina beforeannouncing she’d be broke if anyone let her go near any baby clothes shops again.
Nina left them to it and before she headed back to her car she ventured along the pier right to the end. This was a great vantage point to look out to sea, and although her heart thumped at the sight of the weather changing around her, she suddenly felt compelled to be out here, to take it in a while longer, to face a fear of a weather change she’d once found fascinating, stunning even.
Aside from one fisherman who was packing up, his wax jacket flapping in the wind, there was nobody else around and Nina stared out at the sea as the waves became more choppy, white-tipped as they answered the skies up above. Seeing the sea always brought with it memories, and as the wind picked up some more and the fisherman bid her a goodnight she knew it was time for her to go too. She wanted to be tucked up in her cabin by the time the storm arrived and so she waved at Maeve and Jo as she passed the café once again and set off along the pier before climbing into her car and heading for the road that would lead down to the bay and the two cabins.
And this time when she reached the first cabin she didn’t feel quite such a pain stabbing away inside her chest. Going to the café today had been the best idea and it felt good to have rekindled a friendship with Maeve already.
But when she saw Leo’s cabin beyond she knew she had a long way to go to feel comfortable around here. She’d hurt him terribly and wondered whether he’d ever let her be a friend after what she’d put him through.
Somehow she seriously doubted it.
Chapter Nine
Leo
Leo woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, the sound of a branch from the nearest tree banging against his window in the ferocity of the wind. It had been a long time since he’d dreamt about that night on the boat, but the nightmare had left him spent the way it always did when it came to haunt him. And it had a different ending that left him reaching for the glass of water beside his bed, the images fresh in his mind as though it were yesterday and as though the ending were real.
When the weather had turned that night, the partygoers had had enough alcohol to find it funny at first, not entirely taking it seriously, but as conditions rapidly worsened all of them realised it was no joking matter. He remembered taking control of the boat while Adrian insisted everyone put their buoyancy vests back on – some of them already had, thanks to the rocking of the boat – and then Leo had found Nina and sat next to her. She’d had her eyes closed tightly, clinging on to whatever was in reach. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but it would’ve been stupid not to hold on to something himself. A couple of partygoers looked as though they were about to spew, and Leo suspected a few of them wouldbefore they got back to the marina. Things had rapidly got worse. Adrian was yelling Rhianne had gone over the side. Leo picked up the radio and called for help, Adrian had chucked the life ring over for Rhianne, although nobody could see her, and then Adrian jumped into the water himself.
Their carefree trip with friends had turned into the stuff of nightmares.
The nightmare Leo had just woken from had finished not only with losing Rhianne, but his brother too, Adrian unable to make it back to the boat.
Now, safely inside his cabin twelve years after the event Leo could hear the storm that had probably seeped into his psyche despite his dry bed, the safety of the cabin’s walls, the stability of the ground, and caused the dream to resurface.
He went into the kitchen area and ran the tap to fill another glass with water and when he heard another crash outside he looked out to see one of the branches from the tree he’d climbed as a kid had been ripped off and smacked onto the table on his veranda.
He looked over towards Nina’s cabin, knowing there was a tree right next to her bedroom window. He had sudden thoughts that it might crash through the glass, but was she even there? His gran had left him a note with the fudge to say they’d brought Nina some too, implying she was, but was she staying overnight? Was she having a nightmare like he was? Did she even do that any more, or had she put the past behind her and was able to sleep like a baby through a storm?
His heart pounding, he pulled on a pair of tracksuit pants, a fleece over his bare chest and ventured outside.He took the thirteen steps from his cabin to hers, steps that had never meant so much as now, when he thought she might be in danger. He’d take a peek inside, see if there was a sign she was there, and if not he’d just go back before the wind knocked him sideways. The rain had already soaked him through even on the shortest walk known to man.
And then he heard a yelp, and when he looked in the window her face was right up close on the other side. He wasn’t so bad at lip reading that he couldn’t tell what she’d said and it almost tickled him that she’d said the ‘f’ word when she hated it. It had always made him laugh when they were teenagers, the age everyone thought it was funny to use foul language, and still she’d insisted on saying ‘fudge’ or at worst, ‘flipsters’.
