“Is that a lot?”
Ollie shot Shay an idiot scowl the camera wouldn’t pick up. “It’s a lot, and Joyce’s entire family were involved with it—her father, uncles, brothers… her husband.”
“Husband? So he was my great-great-grandfather?”
“Not exactly. But we’ll get to that.”
Shay’s face was alive with curiosity, from his wide, blazing eyes, to his lip caught in his teeth. He tapped the book page. “Go on.”
“In 1939,” Ollie said, “war broke out. Joyce’s husband was old enough to avoid the first waves of conscriptions, but he shipped out in 1940, and by then, much of Sunderland’s male shipbuilding force had already gone. And it was the worst possible timing for the town. The war brought a huge boost in demand, so to keep up, the women stepped in. Turn the page.”
Shay obeyed, and a double-paged photograph of women in the shipyards greeted him. “Wow. So many of them.”
“They had a lot to do.” Ollie turned another page. “And they weren’t just building new ships. They were repairing warships and merchant boats that had already been damaged by U-boat attacks. I had a figure somewhere for the tonnage they produced in 1941, but I’ve lost it.”
Shay chuckled softly. “It’s probably in your bunk. I don’t know how you live in such chaos.”
“I don’t spend much time there, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Shay glanced up from the book. His gaze was charged with a new kind of heat. Or maybe it wasn’t new at all. Whatever. Ollie was lost in it for a moment so protracted he’d need a sledgehammer to edit it out.
“Um… anyway.” Ollie fought to compose himself. Failed as Shay’s long leg wrapped around his like a snake. A grin burst out of him before he could catch it. “Stop it. You make me insane.”
“No, I make you smile. One day you’ll realise that’s not a bad thing.”
“I already—fuck. Can we get this shit done? I can tell you how beautiful you are later.”
Shay stared.
Ollie reached under the table and squeezed his lean, unyielding thigh. “Please?”
Heartbeats flowed between them. Then Shay blinked and turned back to the book. “So ships, yeah?”
Ollie sniggered and left his hand where it was.
Chapter Sixteen
Shay linkedhis arm with Ollie’s as they strolled by the waterside. They’d returned Ollie’s laptop and camera gear to the bus and found no one around, so they’d snuck away again for a quick walk before Shay was due at soundcheck. “I can’t believe my great-great-grandmother was involved in such a love triangle.”
Ollie hummed. He hadn’t resisted when Shay had taken his left arm, but the ripple of tension in him was hard to miss. “It actually wasn’t that unusual in those days. Men were mistakenly reported dead quite frequently, and what were the women left behind supposed to do? Mourn forever?”
“I think my dad has a girlfriend.”
“That’s nice.”
“It is. He won’t tell me, though. I reckon he’s worried I’ll think it’s too soon.”
“Do you?”
“Nah. My mum will be dead forever. There’s no need for him to be lonely.” Shay kicked a rock. “I still can’t believe my great-great-grandfather was an American GI.”
“You’re quite a mix, eh?”
“Yeah. It’s weird. I’d never considered so many places could make up one person, and there’s more to come, isn’t there?”
“There is.”
Shay shook his head. “I feel like a trifle.”
