Page 66 of Escape to the Sun

‘But why have you got it…’ Millie asked and then answered her own question with a burst of colour to her cheeks and a muffled exclamation.

Or maybe it was Hannah’s cheeks burning, reflected in Millie’s. She’d found the radio under a towel in the bathroom, remembering how it had come to be there as she set the room straight.

‘Can I go back to the cabin, Mum?’ Millie asked. ‘I want to make sure I’ve got everything ready for today.’

‘Only if Nathan goes with you.’

Nathan huffed and slumped, then edged from the bench seat and stretched out a hand for the keycard.

‘Thank you, Nath,’ Ruth said, watching her children as they walked away. ‘Growing up so fast,’ she said with a contented sigh.

Ruth looked bright and happier this morning than Hannah had ever seen her. She lifted her cup of coffee to her lips, took a sip then set it down and fixed Hannah with a steady gaze.

‘How are you this morning?’ she said.

‘I’m good, thanks, Ruth. You?’

‘Teddy and I did a lot of talking last night – it went better than I could have hoped.’ She frowned momentarily, shifting her attention to the radio. ‘I’m not even going to ask about that. Just as well, probably, that Teddy’s already eaten and gone – I would have enjoyed watching you trying to explain it to him.’ She grinned, then the light-hearted expression fell away. ‘Hannah – how serious do you think it is between you and Louis?’

Hannah was taken aback by the question. It almost sounded as though Ruth knew something she didn’t.

‘Why?’

Ruth reached for her coffee again, hiding behind the rim for a moment too long. Then she clattered the cup onto the table. ‘I wonder if— Sometimes I rush into things when it might be better to reflect. And I’m worried I pushed you and Louis together.’

‘Worried?’ Hannah didn’t understand where this conversation was going.

‘And I know I said a whole lot of stuff about you being like Teddy and me being like Ian and that you shouldn’t look back, like Teddy didn’t, that you deserve better and all that. But now…’

‘Are you and Teddy back together?’ Hannah asked.

‘It’s early days, but I think it might be what we both want, eventually.’ Ruth beamed as she spoke, banishing the clouds that had begun to settle on her expression.

‘That’s fantastic, Ruth. I’m so pleased for you.’

‘Thank you.’ Ruth’s face clouded over again. ‘Anyway, it got me thinking in a different way last night. And how it might impact your situation, too.’

‘How?’

‘You mustn’t think I don’t like Louis – I do. Very much. And his being Teddy’s son doesn’t make this any easier. But I need to be transparent with my thoughts, just like I was when I suggested Ian didn’t deserve you and you shouldn’t waste another second on him.’

‘I don’t know where you’re going with this, Ruth, but I had some news about Ian this morning – he’s been in an accident. He’s going to be OK, but he’s in hospital.’

‘And how does that make you feel?’ Ruth said, her focus intense.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Are you getting in contact with him?’

Hannah nodded. ‘I think I owe him that much.’

‘I think you should. And let me explain why. When I left Teddy, I never gave him any agency in the decision. I insisted it was the right thing to do, didn’t let him try to talk me round. I didn’t give myself the chance to make it up to him, to see if we would have been all right. And now I’m beginning to think my decision – even though I thought I made it for all the right reasons – might have been the worst I’ve ever made.’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘I’m trying to say I think you should give yourself time to be certain where Ian is concerned. What I’m coming to realise is that if he regrets his mistake anything like as profoundly as I do mine, you and he might still get to have a fantastic life together. After all, you loved him enough to want to marry him not so long ago. And you know him so well, your family love him, he fits into your life – your real life, not this glossy, on-ship version.’ Ruth pulled in a deep breath. ‘Just be absolutely sure, Hannah. That’s all. Don’t throw away someone you know so well for something that might or might not be real. And I love Louis – you know I do – but like you said, this whole trip is a suspension of real life.’

‘But you were the one who was so adamant about cutting Ian out of my life, not allowing him back in.’