‘You did nothing wrong, Nina. Please know that.’
‘I must’ve done something!’
‘Hey, your mum is, to be honest, a bit of a fuck-up.’ His words shocked her but they were true. ‘She cared more about herself than being a mother, she left a lot of it up to her parents and thank God you had Walt and Elsie in your life, because you turned out to beyou.And I wouldn’t change you for the world.’
Even after she’d left him, ripped apart their lives so brutally he was still willing to see the good.
‘You know I hear from Mum and Dad, but I think it’s out of duty more than anything. Sometimes I wonder why they bother. And don’t even get me started on the way Mum is with her own father.’
‘I suspect Walt thinks along the same lines as you do.’ Leo put his hands on either side of her face drawing her even closer. ‘I’ll bet he wonders how he failed as a parent, he probably wondered how he messed up. But the answer is that neither of you did anything wrong. Christy is the woman she is and that’s that. Sometimes no matter their upbringing or their friends or family, people make choices and shape their lives in a way that isn’t what you’d expect.’
‘She’s told me more than once that she has a life to live.’ Their faces were inches apart, his eyes focused on her and her only.
‘And while that’s true, she’s doing it in a way that pushes everyone else aside.’
‘She’ll never change,’ said Nina, knowing it was true. ‘I need to accept that.’
‘You, William and Walt don’t deserve Christy’s lack of attention and care. But what you and your brother have with Walt, now that’s special, that’s love. That’s family. And so am I if you’ll let me be.’
‘Even after everything I put you through.’
‘The time apart wasn’t easy but I learnt a lot about myself and what I wanted out of life. And now when I question it, when I float the idea of leaving, I can see deep down that that just isn’t me. I’m not that person. This bay, this life, it’s me. I don’t want different. But I do want you.’
She’d let her face relax against his hands, hands that held the smell of the salty sea no matter how many times he washed them, as though it were a part of his very being. She might be imagining it but it was the scent she associated with him, with belonging.
His thumb moved and brushed her bottom lip and suddenly she was hyper aware of the closeness of their bodies, the familiarity but also the passage of time that made her nervous. ‘Leo, I—’
‘No, no talking. Not now. Everything else can wait.’ His hand around the back of her neck urged her closer to him but he stopped suddenly. ‘If this is what you want?’
She nodded. ‘It’s a long time since we’ve been together,’ she breathed. And for once, she was letting herself feel what she’d pushed aside for so long. With Leo she feltsafe, connected, where she should’ve been all along. She put a hand against his chest, imagining the smooth skin beneath the woollen jumper.
She looked up at him and instead of hesitation, of worry, she saw desire right before he lowered his head and their lips met. Time spiralled, the past, the present, all wrapped up into one. They’d both missed each other more than they’d ever be able to put into words and each of them realised it as he scooped her up in his arms to take her into his bedroom.
‘We’re checking up on you,’ said Grandad the moment he arrived at her cabin the next morning. She’d propped the front door open to get the fresh air now that the sun was shining again. And she’d left Leo asleep to come back here, have breakfast and take a shower.
‘Checking up on me. Why?’ She felt guilty for staying out all night even though she was a grown woman and they didn’t even know.
‘We heard about last night of course.’ Walt stepped inside along with Camille.
‘You heard?’ Word sure travelled fast.
But it wasn’t about her and Leo even though her head was consumed with thoughts about the man she still loved, the way their bodies had behaved between the sheets after so long apart. ‘That poor boy,’ said Walt, ‘and Maeve too, what must they have gone through. Not to mention Adrian.’
‘And how are you feeling?’ Nina asked Camille. ‘This is your great-grandchild we’re talking about.’
Camille gave a small smile. ‘It’s a shock to all of us.’
‘How are Anne and Jimmy?’
‘Trying to let the news sink in. Angry on Adrian’s behalf, or at least Jimmy is. But we can all see Maeve didn’t do this to hurt anyone. We need to find a way to move forwards and welcome them both into our family.’
As Walt put a hand on Camille’s arm and they talked about Jonah, about Maeve and Adrian, Nina tuned out a little. The only man she could think about right now was Leo and her grandad only spotted anything out of the ordinary when Camille pointed out that she’d just thrown a tea towel into the recycling bag rather than hang it up.
‘What is going on with you?’ Walt was watching his granddaughter.
He wasn’t wrong to question her. She was all over the place this morning. In the space of the half an hour since she’d been here at the O’Brien cabin she’d poured orange juice onto her cereal instead of milk, she’d put the box of cereal into the fridge not the cupboard, and she’d thanked the lord the sink had an overflow when she’d left the taps running ready to wash up her breakfast things and stood daydreaming about last night.
Because last night had been amazing. More than amazing, it had been a dream.
