Conall saw the warm colour in her cheeks and those glittering eyes and thought how much better she looked. But he knew not to say that. She was touchy about reminders of her injuries.
‘So, what do you think?’
She lifted her elbows above her head and stretched as unselfconsciously as a cat.
He was delighted she was so at ease when for the past couple of weeks it had felt like she was on edge around him.
‘Think about what? I lost the thread of the earlier conversation.’
‘What do you think of the yacht?’
She didn’t answer immediately and he noted the tiny vertical fold in the centre of her forehead that signified she was considering carefully.
‘It’s glorious. Powerful and fast and incredibly exhilarating when the wind caught us and drove us right across the harbour.’
Shewas exhilarating. The animation in her voice and her face was like summer after the longest, bleakest winter. It was damnably hard, keeping his reaction to her hidden. But now wasn’t the time.
‘Do you sail much? You never mention it.’
‘Not for years. Once I sailed regularly, crewing for friends in races.’ But the need to prove himself, make his mark, had meant devoting all his time and energy to business. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on the water. ‘Today’s made me remember how much I enjoy it.’
Greer tilted her head as if fascinated and Conall wanted more than anything to keep the conversation going. ‘How about you? What sport do you enjoy?’
‘I haven’t played sport in years. Though,’ she added slowly, ‘I always wanted to learn tennis.’
‘You didn’t play at school?’
‘The schools I attended didn’t offer it.’ As if reading his mind she went on, ‘And we didn’t have money for lessons. But I liked netball. I played it for years.’
His sixth sense told him Greer’s change of subject meant they’d veered close to something she’d rather not discuss. Her family’s lack of disposable income?
‘We didn’t have money for extras when I was little either.’ He watched her eyes widen and felt surprised himself. Heneverdiscussed his childhood. But he wanted to further the connection between them. ‘My mum raised me alone until I was five.’
She’d kept him a secret from Fraser Abercrombie, afraid the man would take him away. Conall’s father went through women like water but had a controlling interest in his children.
‘So, the sailing came later. Do you remember your first time on a yacht?’
That was Greer, tactfully not asking about his family dynamics. She instinctively knewhisno-go subjects. But he trusted her implicitly, more than she realised.
‘I do. My half-brother, Jackson, took me out when I was seven. We were in the middle of the river then he turned the tiller hard just at the right moment to tip me in.’
‘You fell in? That must have been terrifying.’
Conall remembered his disbelief and terror. ‘My life vest kept me afloat while I dog-paddled. And I was almost sure he’d come back and collect me.’
‘You mean he did it deliberately?’
‘He thought it a great joke. Even bragged about it when we got ashore.’ Conall remembered shivering, water streaming off him, listening to his father say he needed to toughen up and hang on better next time. But seeing Greer’s horror he smiled. ‘I was okay, and it taught me valuable lessons.’
Never trust his half-siblings, Jackson in particular. Friendly overtures were usually a prelude to a trick, especially as Conall was so many years younger than the rest. Never expect sympathy from his father. Rely only on himself.
Reading Greer’s questioning look he said, ‘It made me practise my swimming and I was so determined to learn to sail, I became proficient young.’ Now he wanted to go back to it. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision but it felt right. ‘So, thoughts on buying the yacht?’
‘As an investment? If you’re after long-term profit, I don’t think pleasure craft accrue value when compared with other investments, but I’d have to research that.’
‘If I didn’t care about profit?’
She tilted her head as if to read his expression better. ‘I don’t see how it would fit as a community enterprise.’
