Seventeen
‘Left! What do you mean, she’s left?’ When Griff had taken him to one side and said he had something to tell him, all sorts of things had whirled around in Russell’s mind, but Hanna leaving the village wasn’t one of them. ‘Why? For how long? Where’s she gone?’
‘Those are all excellent questions, but I’m afraid I don’t have the answers.’ Griff shook his head. ‘All I know is what I’ve told you. But there’ll be someone in Betancourt Bay who knows, I’m sure. She wouldn’t simply leave without telling anyone, would she?’
‘Don’t ask me? She left the restaurant yesterday without telling me.’
‘Yes. But she left you a note. What did it say again? Did it give any hint of her planned departure?’
‘None. It said “I’m so sorry, Russell. Please don’t come after me. I need to be alone. Thank you, for being you.” And that was it. Perhaps that’s what she meant by needing to be alone.’
‘Possibly. But she could be alone in Catkin Cottage if she wanted. I don’t think we need to worry. She’s a sensible woman.Usually. This whole thing is odd though, don’t you agree? And I know she told you she loves me, but I still don’t believe it. Tell me what she said, exactly, if you can remember.’
‘Oh, I can remember. I’ll never forget it. We were talking about the Summer Fayre and I asked her if she was coming. She said she wasn’t because of the gossip, and I told her she should. We then discussed how I’d felt when everyone was gossiping about me, and she said I’d spent most of my time away from here, and that she wanted to avoid seeing you and Grace together so she should stay away this weekend. But she didn’t saygoaway, juststayaway. And that’s when … when I realised the gossip was true. I asked her if it was and she said yes.’
Griff frowned. ‘Did she? Did she actually say, ‘yes it’s true’, or did you just think she said it?’
‘What? She said it. I said, “So it is true then? I didn’t think it was. Or maybe I just hoped it wasn’t. But you’re saying it is? You’re in love? With Griff?” And she said, “Erm. I’m in love.” I don’t think she could’ve made it any clearer than that.’
‘Hmm. Let me get this straight. You asked her if the gossip was true, and then you asked her that again in a slightly different way. Then you asked her if she was in love, and finally you added, with Griff, is that correct? They were all separate sentences? All separate questions?’
‘Yes. No. I don’t see why that matters.’
Griff let out a sigh. ‘Oh, Russell. Of course it matters. That’s the problem with gossip and hearsay, and even with two people having a conversation but not actually hearing what the other person is saying.’
‘I have no idea what you’re saying right now. What matters? And why?’
‘It matters because Hanna only answered one of your questions. And it wasn’t the one, or should I say two, about thegossip being true. And it wasn’t the one about me. You asked her if she was in love, and she told you she was.’
‘Precisely! So what point are you trying to make here?’
‘The point, brother dear, is that Hanna admitted she is in love. But she didn’t tell you with whom she is in love. And at no time did she say the gossip was true. I was right all along. I knew there’d be a simple explanation, and there is. The problem now, of course, is that she has left the village and we have no idea where she’s gone or for how long she may be away.’
‘That’s not the only problem. I still don’t know what you’re talking about but what I do know is that Hanna is in love, and that’s a massive problem for me. Please don’t tell anyone else about this yet, because after all that gossip about me and Hope, I’m not ready for another lot. But I think … No, I know–’
‘That you’re in love with Hanna. And probably have been for some time. Yes, Russell, I know.’
‘What! How?’
Griff grinned. ‘It’s a talent of mine. I knew Grace was in love with me but I had to wait for her to realise she was. That took longer than I’d hoped. But sometimes these things do. And, if you remember, I knew you were in love with Hope. Although I think that, like Grace’s former infatuation with you, what you felt for Hope was years of friendship that you manifested into what you believed was love. I saw you with Hanna at Easter, and the way you were together was completely different to the way you were around Hope. I was fairly sure then that you and Hanna had feelings for one another.’
‘For one another? That’s where you’re wrong. I won’t argue with you about my former feelings for Hope. I think I did love her, but now I’m over it. But I’ll argue with you about Hanna having feelings for me. A couple of times I hoped she might, but clearly I was wrong. And I only knew myself this week, how strongly I felt about her.’
Griff sighed. ‘Unless I’m mistaken – which I’m not, Hanna feels the same about you. It was you she was referring to when she said whatever it was to Barbra Brimble. Not me. You’re the one who could make her dreams come true. Not me. You’re the one she loves, Russell. Not me. She said so in the restaurant. You just weren’t listening. She even said so in her note.’
‘No she didn’t. She doesn’t love me. I know she … Does she?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then why would she leave?’
‘Because she thinks that you think that she’s in love with me. And so does everyone else. She also probably thinks that if you had feelings for her, you’d tell her so. The reason she didn’t immediately deny the gossip is because she knew part of it was true, and she didn’t want to lie. But she couldn’t say, ‘I don’t love Griff, I love Russell’, could she? You were friends. She probably wanted to stay friends. She didn’t want to scare you away with everyone in the village knowing how she felt about you. And that’s why she didn’t tell Grace. She knew Grace would never be able to keep that a secret from me. And she didn’t tell Hope because Hope would’ve told Grace. She probably wasn’t sure she could tell anyone without them telling someone else. That’s the problem with such close-knit communities. Someone always wants to tell someone something they think someone else should know.’
‘I’ve been a fool, haven’t I?’
‘Yes, Russell, you have. But then so have I. It’s taken me a while to understand all this. I must be losing my touch.’
‘At least you haven’t lost the woman you love.’
‘Neither have you. Hanna will be back. I’m willing to bet on that.’
