Bea hadn’t been expecting this and was completely at a loss. ‘I’m so sorry, Nolan. I don’t know what to say, except I’m really sorry.’ She could kick herself for the idiotic way she’d acted over the painting.
‘That’s okay.’ He took a breath. ‘I suppose it was partly my continued grief that led me to throw myself into renovating my grandfather’s boat. It was a way to keep my mind off things. A much-needed distraction.’
Bea could relate to that. She could see his hand slightly shaking as he took another sip.
‘And that’s why I prefer to be out on the water. Everyone I have ever got close to leaves me in one way or another, so maybe I thought if I kept moving, I could be the one who leaves, rather than the one who is left alone.’
Bea reached across and took his hand.
‘How did she die?’ she asked tentatively.
‘Hannah had just started a new job and had begun to complain of headaches. I just brushed it off as a side-effect of working in a new, stuffy office, with the heating ramped up because it was winter, or the strain of staring at a screen all day. I didn’t even encourage her to go to the doctor.’ Nolan blinked back the tears. ‘Then, a couple of days later, I was in the garden when an ambulance turned up out of the blue at the front gate. I thought they’d got the wrong address ... Hannah had collapsed and somehow managed to alert the emergency services from the upstairs phone. At the hospital, the worst was confirmed. Hannah had an advanced brain tumour and was given six months to live. She only made it to four.’
There was a sadness bleeding through the room and Bea felt herself well up. There was nothing she could say to make this awful situation any better.
‘That was the last time I was in an ambulance before today.’ He paused. ‘I’m not all those things you think I am.’
‘It’s okay, you don’t owe me any explanation.’
They stared at each other. Nolan broke the silence. ‘Like I said, it’s the reason I took to The Hemingway. I decided to embrace being alone and thought that if I kept sailing, no one could hurt me. Not that I’m saying Hannah hurt me… It’s difficult to explain. I was devastated to lose her and it frightens me to put myself in that situation again.
‘Bea, you took me by surprise. You were so easy to be around and I was surprised at how happy I felt just to be in your presence. I hadn’t felt that since Hannah. Not with anyone … because despite your assumption that I have a girl in every port, there hasn’t been anyone else besides you since Hannah passed away.’
Bea knew how difficult it must have been for Nolan to share all that information, and the fact that he’d told her gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. She was also relieved to hear that she hadn’t been one of many, and that Nolan had felt the incredible connection that she had, too.
Just at that moment, the curtain around her bed was pulled aside and a nurse gave Bea a warm smile. ‘How are you doing? Is the pain manageable in your ankle?’
Bea was feeling as comfortable as she could be. ‘I’m doing okay,’ she replied.
‘If you need anything, just press your buzzer,’ said the nurse to Bea before turning to Nolan. ‘It’s getting late now, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.’
Whilst the nurse checked Bea’s pulse and noted the information down on the chart at the end of the bed, Nolan pulled on his jacket. As soon as the nurse left the room, he moved closer to the side of the bed. ‘They should let you out in the morning. I’ll come back to get you then.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I want to.’
‘Can I ask, did you come back to Heartcross because of me?’ Bea knew it was a risk asking the question but she wanted to know the answer.
‘I can neither confirm nor deny.’ He gave her a cheeky wink. ‘There’s no Hemingway and Fernsby without Fernsby.’
‘Or without Hemingway.’
Both of them smiled smiles that got bigger and bigger.
‘Try to stay out of trouble until the morning,’ said Nolan.
‘Don’t you go sailing off into the sunset without a word.’
‘I don’t know if it’s escaped your notice but there is a storm out there that would make that impossible, But even if the sun was shining, I wouldn’t be going anywhere.’
‘That’s good, because if you leave, you’ll be missed.’ Bea tilted her head and gave him a lopsided grin.
Nolan disappeared through the curtain with a wave and Bea lay her head back on the pillow. She knew it must have been hard for him to open up to her and she couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him to lose his wife so young in such a tragic way. But despite the sadness of it all, there was one thing that gave her hope – he’d trusted her with all that information when he didn’t have to. Honesty meant the world to Bea. After everything that had happened in the last ten minutes, she felt their connection was growing stronger.
ChapterSeventeen
Bea woke the next morning to the sight of a doctor at the side of her bed. The blinds were open at the far end of the ward, showing her that the wind and rain had stopped and the sun was once again trying to break through the clouds.
