‘Yes.’
‘Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It might not be an option, remember.’
But she was smiling. ‘Except it might be. And Grandad would jump at the chance to have it go to you and nobody else. You know he thinks the world of you.’
‘Then let’s see what the bank says.’ He’d started to smile now as well.
‘Let’s see what the bank says,’ she repeated.
Somehow, even though it was no less real that the cabin would still be leaving the family with a sale, selling it to Leo if he could come up with the funds could leave everyone content with the outcome.
‘What would you do with a second cabin?’ she asked, already hopeful, because ever since he’d suggested he might leave the bay behind she realised that she’d always assumed he would be around. And thinking that he might not be was almost unbearable.
‘I hadn’t thought that far.’
‘You could always join them together and make one big cabin,’ she grinned. ‘One day you might have a family.’ Her smile faded as she tugged the ends of her cardigan across her lap and over her thighs. She’d thought he hadone when she saw him on the beach that day with Maeve and Jonah and the memory pulled at her again, enough to realise this man had once been her world and maybe he wasn’t out of it yet.
‘We used to dream about “one day”, you and I. Do you remember?’
Softly she said, ‘Of course I do.’
‘And you really think Walt would take the asking price rather than the ridiculous offer?’
‘There’s more to life than money.’ She smiled. ‘I’d better go, it’s late. Let me know how you get on at the bank.
‘Will do.’ He got up to walk her to the door.
She turned so quickly she hadn’t realised how close he’d got to her as she reached for her raincoat from the hook. Her face was almost pressed against his chest. ‘I’d feel better knowing the cabin went to you rather than anyone else, Leo.’ She was too close to look into his eyes, as if she did that she’d almost be tempted to kiss him. ‘If you kept the cabin it wouldn’t feel quite like we were erasing a part of history.’
‘That’ll never happen.’ But he went over to the kitchen and picked up the orange jar that held so many of their memories. ‘Here, you should take this. It’s yours really.’
She let him place it in her hands. ‘I don’t know what to do with it.’ It felt a bit like he was trying to let go of the memories they had, their joint history.
‘That’s up to you.’
It felt like he was giving her a choice, a choice about their past and their future.
And she had no idea what to do with either.
Chapter Sixteen
Leo
Leo left the bank with that sinking feeling that life was about to change in a way he couldn’t bear. He hadn’t managed to persuade the bank manager to loan him the amount he needed to buy the O’Brien cabin.
Leo had finished work, had the appointment and headed to the nearest card shop. He knew he was going to have to paste a smile on his face for the sake of his parents at their anniversary dinner tonight. It was a celebration, not a miserable occasion, and he wasn’t going to be the one to spoil it for them.
He bought an anniversary card and as he paid and the assistant slipped it into a paper bag the card was yet another reminder he’d never come close to that kind of commitment with anyone since Nina. He’d once thought they’d be like his parents, together for many many years, celebrating anniversary after anniversary. And despite the twelve years apart, slowly, since she’d arrived he’d begun to think that perhaps they might have another chance. Maybe fate had wanted to bring them together and her coming to the bay to sell the cabin had been what it took. He’d felt even closer to Nina when they’d looked through the worry jar together, their childhoodselves in the room with them as they sifted through the memories. He’d comforted her after she confided in him about her parents, even more so than she had back then, as though the years gone by had enabled her to see things from another angle. And he’d seen the delight in her eyes when he suggested he might be in a position to buy the cabin and take all her worries away. He should’ve kept his big mouth shut until he knew whether it was even possible.
And now? Now they’d take the high offer, she’d be leaving sooner rather than later and all he’d think when he looked over at the cabin was that it had once been a special place but had turned into nothing more than a holiday rental for a man who wanted to get his hands on a lot more of Stepping Stone Bay.
As Leo walked towards his parents’ house he told himself the sooner he got the facts into his head, the better. The Nina and Leo of the past had gone, and it was too complicated to even think about trying to go back to what and who they were.
Camille answered the door and he got a decent waft of the chicken piccata Adrian was making for dinner. ‘Something smells good.’
She closed the door behind him. ‘It does, doesn’t it. And he’s doing a whisky caramel and banana pudding too.’
Leo gave his gran a hug and snatched up a pen to write the card for his parents before either of them saw him. They were at the back of the house in the kitchen with Adrian according to Camille which meant he was safe for now.
