Page 59 of Escape to the Sun

‘Perhaps this afternoon is your chance, then?’ Ruth said.

‘How do you suggest I make it right?’

‘Teddy King is asking me for advice – blimey, you must be desperate.’ Ruth meant it to sound jokey, but Teddy furrowed his eyebrows again.

‘Yes, Ruth. I am.’

‘Tell him you love him. Tell him you’ve always been proud of him and everything else was noise and you regret it. Start there, see where it takes you.’

It was what Ruth wanted to say to Teddy but knew she couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair. She sighed, reaching briefly for his hand to encourage him along the sand.

‘Come on. Let’s do this.’

31

Hannah would have been lying if she’d said she hadn’t been concerned about how the afternoon would unfold. With a grouping of sun loungers set out to accommodate all of them, and drinks ordered, including a rum punch for Nathan after an intense stand-off between the teenager and his mother. After Teddy suggested it might not be the end of the world, and that – in fact – the legal age for drinking alcohol in St Lucia was sixteen anyway, Ruth had looked annoyed with Teddy, for about three seconds, before caving.

‘Just the one, though, Nath,’ Ruth said.

‘It’s mostly fruit juice, Ruth. He’ll be OK,’ Hannah said. It wasn’t strictly true – they were quite strong, but if the puffing out of Nathan’s chest was any measure, it was the right decision to make in front of Keisha. At fifteen, she was more than happy to stick with a mango Icy.

It hadn’t taken Millie long to become fidgety, and Hannah scooped her up to go snorkelling. There was a shack further up the beach where they could hire everything and, once there, they opted to have someone guide them. Exotic fish teemed in the bay’s waters, and it had been a wonderful experience.

When they exited the water and gave back all the equipment, Hannah couldn’t help a glance down the beach, to see if Louis and his father were talking…

She supposed that would have been too simple. Instead, she could see Ruth and Teddy walking along the beach, toes in the foamy edge of the water, chatting as though there was nobody else on the sand. Nathan and Keisha were splashing around in the waves.

Louis was alone, seated on a lounger and staring out to sea.

It wasn’t really any of her business. And however much she might like to create something with Louis moving forward, she was also very aware this whole trip was a suspension of reality. It was perfectly possible it would all come to a crashing end when she headed back to the UK. And that was without considering what she had to sort out when she did get home.

The lightness she’d felt while she and Millie were pointing out fish to one another had evaporated. It looked like it had been too much to expect Louis and his father to have made some miraculous Christmas breakthrough.

‘How much longer have we got before we have to head back?’ Millie was asking.

‘Not long enough,’ Hannah replied, only partially talking about their time remaining on St Lucia.

‘Mum’s booked us a table in one of the posh restaurants this evening. She says she has to pay a supplement for our meals tonight, but it’s fine ’cos it’s Christmas.’ Millie frowned, leant in towards Hannah. ‘I hope Teddy comes too. I haven’t asked, but I can see how much Mum likes him. She’s like a new person.’ Millie shook her head. ‘No, that’s not right. What I mean is she’s still her, but she seems brighter. More alive. Does that sound stupid?’

‘Not at all.’

‘Everyone thinks I don’t understand because I’m twelve, but I know my dad really hurt her. He wasn’t nice to her, even before he met Janey. And I suppose I still love him; he is my dad – but it’s been easier since he went. For me, anyway. Maybe not for Nathan so much. And I don’t know how I feel about it, but I’m wondering if Teddy becomes Mum’s boyfriend maybe she’ll be really happy and I want that for her.’

‘Why do you think Teddy might become your mum’s boyfriend?’

‘Because she looks at him like you look at Captain Louis.’

‘Oh.’ Hannah supposed she hadn’t considered how other people viewed the two of them.

‘And then we might all end up being one big family.’ Millie stopped, staring at her fingers as though trying to work something out. ‘And then you could be my cousin by marriage or something. Is that how it works?’

Hannah grinned. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Well, whatever. We could have Christmas together every year forever.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ Hannah said. The scenario seemed to be straying into Hallmark Christmas movie territory – not that there weren’t worse places to exist. ‘It’s a nice idea, though.’

Millie seemed satisfied with her response and began to pick up speed towards her mother.