Page 23 of Escape to the Sun

Louis puffed out his cheeks. ‘There’s probably a reason why I’m single,’ he said with a shrug.

Hannah’s frown dissipated and she grinned.

‘I don’t know about that,’ she said. ‘But yes, we can go get a coffee if you like.’

At the Crow’s Nest, Hannah led the way to some seats in the corner. Caribbean-inspired Christmas music played gently in the background. It was surreal to hear strains of Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ being played on traditional West Indian instruments. Even more surreal was the fact that she was being trailed to the seats by Louis.

Hannah had noticed heads turning as he passed. The way gazes travelled past her but rested on him. Only to be expected, she supposed – and not something she was concerned about in terms of expecting anyone to notice her. She wasn’t anyone special, after all. But he was. At least, he was as far as these people were concerned. Their captain. The person responsible for the Ballygowan.

They were probably wondering what he was doing wasting his time in one of the ship’s many hostelries with some random woman when he should be steering the ship, or studying computers, or solving complex navigational problems. As she took her seat she wondered if, perhaps, they had a point.

‘Have you got time for this?’ she said, covering her awkwardness by picking up the menu card even though she already knew what she would have.

‘I know I said I wasn’t ever really off duty, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have downtime. Even captains need to relax and sleep, after all.’

‘I hope I’m not going to be so boring that you fall asleep here,’ she said.

‘I didn’t mean it like that – far from it. What would you like?’

‘Chai latte please.’

Louis cast around, raising a hand when he caught the eye of one of the servers. She headed over.

‘Two “Comet’s chai lattes” please, Chelsea,’ he said, his frown lifting as he ordered.

‘Coming right up, Captain.’

‘Perk of the job, not having to go to the counter in here,’ he said.

‘That’s nice,’ Hannah said.

‘Goes on my tab, too, so no need to worry about carrying my wallet around. Makes it all much easier.’

‘I’m more than happy to pay my way,’ Hannah said.

Louis smiled. ‘Totally up to you, but I asked you out for coffee, so I think I should do the honours.’

Hannah swallowed. ‘I asked you out’ – he didn’t mean anything by it. She knew she was being micro-aware of the situation. She’d been with Ian, one way or another, for long enough to make this feel as unfamiliar to her as something she’d never done. But there was no reason to think there was more to this than a couple of adults sharing coffee.

The layers of guilt surrounding her being in the company of a man she found so attractive, when she should be sorting things out with Ian, were crippling. Except she didn’t really want to think about Ian right now. Wasn’t sure she was doing herself any favours by doing so.

She should be more ‘Ruth’ about it. After all, Ruth had been through a nightmare but had seized the moment to take her children and embark on an amazing adventure. To make the best out of the difficulties she faced.

Hannah should do the same – and maybe taking this holiday on her own wasn’t bold enough. There was no doubt Ruth had put her finger on the pulse of the situation in the bar the other evening, when she’d been completely blunt in telling Louis that Hannah was single, having already stated the same was true for the captain. No one to hurt if they did want more from one another than a casual cup of coffee. Free agents who could enjoy the moment.

The swirling in Hannah’s belly signalled how left of base the idea was for her – and yet it aligned with this whole trip. She wasn’t Hannah Maynard from Totton, who worked in her father’s deli and whose fiancé had done the dirty on her. Well, she was, but none of that mattered to anyone else on the Ballygowan. So, it didn’t need to matter to her, either.

Aware they were sat in silence, awkwardly inhabiting the same space while they waited for their drinks, Hannah flushed with the realisation she was beginning to have thoughts about Louis like those she’d had early on with Ian. Maybe even more intense.

‘I’m glad we’re doing this,’ she said after the lattes had arrived. ‘We didn’t get to finish our conversation the other evening and… Well, I wanted to find out more about you, too.’

‘Nothing much to know,’ he said, lifting his cup to his lips.

‘I find that hard to believe, especially after everything we found out during the captain’s Q&A.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘God, that was painful.’

Hannah grinned. ‘I found myself wondering who had put forward some of those questions.’