Page 52 of Escape to the Sun

Ruth shook her head. ‘You would have come to resent me sooner or later, would have begun to question my loyalty. Who wouldn’t? And I couldn’t do that to you.’

Teddy drew in a sharp breath. ‘I didn’t ask you to decide what I wanted to tolerate or forgive. How was that your decision? And yet, you made it yours. You didn’t allow me the chance to prove how much you meant to me – or yourself the time to forgive yourself for what I’ve always believed was nothing more than a drunken mistake. Instead, you took to your heels, and I never got the chance to build a life with you. And yes, Mai came along quickly, and we had our son quickly too – it might all have been unexpected, but I also wouldn’t change any of that for the world. But that only happened because you weren’t brave enough to try to work it through.’

‘Wasn’t brave enough?’ Ruth straightened in her chair, stung by his comment. ‘I thought I was doing the right thing – I thought I was being brave. It would have been far easier to have stayed.’

‘So, why didn’t you?’

‘Because I’d proved myself to be exactly what you didn’t want – and there was no way to put it right. I can’t tell you how much I wished I’d never gone to the Pink Pineapple that night. But I did. And nothing can change it, so here we are.’

‘You were such a whirlwind – still are, by the sounds of it. Impetuous and wild, mind whirring at a million miles an hour. I always did have to run to keep up.’

‘No,’ Ruth said. ‘It was only because I had you I could be any of those things. You were always there for me – I never forgot that. Even though I did fuck it all up.’

Teddy smiled and then said one of the most Teddy things possible. ‘Well, Roo – it seems there is another day being offered in which to have a go at not fucking it up. How about we concentrate on that, instead?’

Hannah grinned as she spotted the Herring family already seated in the Harvest Basket. With Louis on duty for much of the sail to their Christmas destination of Castries, St Lucia, they’d snatched as much time together as they could. She would just have to be content with that until the following day.

For now, she was extremely hungry. The thought of why she was starving had heat sidling up her neck and onto her cheeks, radiating through other parts of a body fully awake as never before to the delights of Louis’ touch.

She was toying with the idea of challenging Nathan to an eating duel – though even with her current appetite she felt sure she would lose – when she noticed there were more people at the table than the usual trio. And that Nathan hadn’t even noticed her approach, his focus instead on a teenage girl with tightly braided hair and a generous smile sitting next to him.

Confusion grew as Hannah clocked a man also at the table, opposite Ruth. He looked vaguely familiar, his precisely cut salt and pepper hair and dark-framed glasses prompting a memory – she’d seen him in Basseterre perhaps… in the art gallery, that was it. She remembered now, he held the door for her as she headed out, her thoughts consumed by getting back to the ship to see Louis.

The Herring family seemed adept at collecting strays. She slid into her seat with an open greeting to everyone.

‘Here she is,’ Ruth said. ‘Everyone, this is our friend, Hannah.’ She waved a hand towards Nathan, encouraging him to go next.

‘This is Keisha – we met in Basseterre. She’s on this cruise too with her family.’ Nathan looked painfully embarrassed, a sign Hannah took to mean he liked Keisha. A lot.

‘Hi, Hannah,’ the girl said, extending a hand for Hannah to shake. ‘My family is over there.’ She pointed at a large grouping on another table. ‘We brought all my grandparents, too, so there’s like millions of us. Can’t miss the Owalabi family.’ She flashed Hannah an enviably bright smile. ‘It’s a relief to get away from them for a bit, actually – that’s how I met Nath; he said he was doing the same thing in port.’ The girl paused, realised how her words sounded, glanced at Ruth, then grimaced. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise,’ Ruth said. ‘If you ever have a teenage son of your own, you’ll understand just how embarrassing it’s possible to be.’ Ruth sucked in a breath, then gestured towards the man sitting opposite her.

‘And, Hannah, believe it or not, this is Teddy.’

He reached out a hand, strong fingers against her hand taking a firm grip for his greeting. ‘Good to meet you, Hannah.’

‘Teddy? As in… Oh, sorry. Yes. And you.’ Hannah failed spectacularly to hide her surprise. The man who had meant so much to Ruth – how was he here?

‘Sounds as though I’ve already been mentioned.’ Teddy looked at Ruth for clarity and the tips of her ears turned pink.

‘Um, well yes – I was trying to help Hannah with a situation she found herself in, and… well…’

‘You were spoken about in high regard, if that helps,’ Hannah said.

The fact Ruth had been all set to marry him thirty-odd years previously, the way they were casually sat across from one another… Hannah stared at Ruth for more of an explanation.

‘Teddy and I recognised one another in that art gallery on shore and, well, it’s just such an amazing coincidence. And Teddy agreed to join us for some food this evening. He’s travelling alone, so it made sense.’

Made sense to Ruth, obviously, and Hannah couldn’t ignore the way Ruth’s expression had taken on an animation previously absent – but none of it made sense to Hannah.

‘Well, my son is on board. I hadn’t got as far as saying that – we had so much to catch up on, Ruth and I. It’s hard to know where to start.’

‘You’re cruising with your son? I thought you said there was some difficulty between the two of you?’ Ruth now joined the ‘looking bewildered’ club, which eased Hannah’s own frown to a certain extent. But only until Teddy spoke again, his words swirling reality all over again.

‘Yes, I did. I’m not travelling with him, but he is the reason I’m on this cruise. He’s the captain. Louis King is my son.’

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