‘In many ways me and William were lucky compared to some kids who may not have anyone on their side.’
He almost wanted to reach over and give her a hug, glad she was able to see the good things in her life and almost push out the bad so it didn’t hold court. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to scare her away when they were at last so comfortable in each other’s company. He knew he was opening himself up to a whole world of hurt, hopeful for a chance with Nina again, but he couldn’t help himself. He loved her.
He always had.
‘I like whistling,’ Jonah informed Leo the next afternoon at the boatshed. He was unpacking a box of swimwear, and while he hung them in the allotted space on the aluminium clothing rail, grouped together by style, Leo ripped the sides of the cardboard packaging to collapse it down.
‘Is that so?’ Leo nodded in approval.
‘Yeah, but you’re doing it too much. I don’t mean to be rude, but could you stop.’
Leo’s laughter rumbled up from his belly. ‘That told me.’
The kid was right. He’d been whistling all day long, and when he wasn’t whistling he was humming. It was themorning after the evening he’d spent with Nina and nothing could dampen his mood. No matter whether they did or didn’t get involved again, her company made him feel better than he had in a long while.
‘Hello,’ came a voice from towards the entrance. And when Leo looked up he saw Maeve.
‘Hi, Mum!’ Jonah enthused, but kept on with the job he was doing.
Maeve came inside and gave her son a hug before announcing, ‘I got off work early. Molly and Arthur are fussing over Jo.’
‘Fussing over their café more like,’ said Leo. ‘They might be retired, but whenever they’re back they love being in there. You don’t mind the early finish?’
‘Not at all. It’s a beautiful afternoon to be out and about.’
‘It most certainly is,’ he added chirpily, although he refrained from whistling. He’d woken this morning to sunshine and a pleasant breeze ruffling the leaves of the tree beyond the veranda. He’d sat in the same spot to eat his breakfast as he’d sat with Nina last night, remembering, enjoying, more than a bit tempted to knock on her cabin door and wake her up to join him.
‘Jonah and I were about to head down to clean a couple of the kayaks,’ he told Maeve.
‘I’ll come down with you.’
‘Great.’ He knew from his brother that at the party Adrian had suggested she try familiarising herself with happy memories of the beach and the sea first before she tackled letting Jonah get closer. And it was good to see she was doing it.
Jonah’s head bobbed up from the other side of thet-shirt stand. ‘You’re coming down to the beach?’ he asked his mum.
‘Yeah, is that OK?’ Maeve didn’t sound nervous, she sounded determined.
Leo didn’t pass comment, he just waited for Jonah to run and position the sign and then he locked up and led them all downstairs into the boatshed itself.
‘You could show me around,’ Maeve suggested to Jonah, who in a few years would probably tower above his mum. He was already almost up to her shoulder height.
Jonah wasted no time darting this way and that to tell Maeve where Leo kept the different water craft and all the accessories that went with them. He knew the layout almost as well as Leo. He explained to his mum how the wetsuits hanging on the rack were returns which were waiting to be properly cleaned before they were available for rehire. Leo overheard him suggesting that people might wee in them and hoped he never mentioned that in front of a customer. He showed her the paddles stacked in sections according to size, explained the various watercraft, the paddleboards and kayaks and the sizing, the bodyboards that weren’t used much now the younger kids were back at school. He led her over to the surfboards and explained about the surf leashes and how they fixed around a surfer’s ankle. She probably knew a lot of the stuff her son was telling her, but Maeve just let him talk in a way he’d probably wanted to talk to her ever since he’d started to come down here and help out.
‘He’s been learning a lot,’ Maeve said as Jonah took the wetsuits from hangers and headed to the very back of the boathouse where there was an enormous plastic tub. She watched him add wetsuit cleaner to the water Leo had putin there while Jonah was leading Maeve around the shed.
‘He asks a lot of questions.’ Leo smiled as they watched Jonah dunk the first wetsuit to give it a good clean.
‘He’s always been the same way, even with schoolwork, although obviously he doesn’t have quite the passion for maths and English as he does for this,’ she laughed, clearly taking in how at home her son was around the water and water craft, how anxious he was to be more involved. ‘Hey Jonah?’
He looked up from the tub where he’d dunked a second wetsuit. ‘Yeah?’
‘I’m going for a walk along by the water.’
He stood a little taller. ‘You hate the water.’
She looked at Leo then back to Jonah. ‘I do not hate it. I’m wary of the sea and the dangers, there’s a difference.’
He didn’t seem convinced, but neither could he be bothered to think too deeply about it, and he got back to his wetsuits as Leo inspected the three paddleboards due out for hire in the next hour.
