Page 59 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘I like to pretend that my parents were two boffins who couldn’t cope with a baby.’ She gave him her best smile to mask her pain. ‘That’s where I got my name, from the same one as the hospital. Elizabeth. Although only the teachers used that and normally when I got into trouble at school.’

‘You were a troublemaker?’ he asked, his eyes gently teasing her, and she knew that he was trying to cheer her up.

She laughed. ‘Only for talking too much which I’m sure doesn’t shock you in the least.’

‘Not in the slightest,’ he replied. ‘So where did you grow up?’

‘In foster homes,’ she carried on. ‘I don’t have any family of my own. That’s why Lily, Hannah and Ella are so important to me. They’re my family, as well as the Jacksons, of course. Hey! That includes you now, I reckon. Is that a scary thought for you? That I think of you like my own family?’

But instead of laughing along with her, she watched as Noah came down the steps of the stepladder and walked towards her. For a crazy moment, she thought he was going to take her in his arms and found herself almost wanting him to do so.

However, he gestured at a nearby flask and said, ‘I could do with a break. Care to share a hot chocolate with me?’

‘I’d love to,’ she replied, sinking down onto a stool.

There had been a subtle shift in their relationship, although she had a feeling that the shift was all on her side. Now, instead of believing him to be cold and aloof, she saw that he was guarded. Instead of controlling, she saw him as someone determined to be in charge of his own destiny.

She trusted him, although she was desperately trying to ignore the feeling inside that was beginning to want him as much more than just a friend.

31

Noah unscrewed the flask of hot chocolate that Faye had made for him earlier upon learning that he would be working on the boat again that evening.

He hadn’t intended on stopping for a break so soon but somehow Beth’s story of her childhood had rendered his to-do list regarding the renovation of the boat somewhat unimportant at that moment.

He had always considered his own childhood as pretty awful. But at least his dad had tried to be a father. Sort of. In any case, he hadn’t abandoned him. Not like his mother. Somebody had wanted him, unlike Beth.

‘You never wanted to trace your parents?’ he couldn’t help but ask.

She shook her head. ‘It was really expensive to look into and, to be honest, I really don’t think I’d have had much luck. No name, no way of tracing whoever left me on the steps of that hospital. How do you begin to try and find someone that doesn’t want to be found?’

‘How come you weren’t adopted?’ he asked, as he handedover the mug of steaming hot cocoa. ‘I’m guessing you were pretty cute as a kid.’

She blew across the steam to cool the drink down a little. ‘I guess when faced with the possibility of dealing with a poorly child all the time, it was just too hard for people to cope with. And I get that.’

‘You were ill?’ he asked.

She pulled down the neck of her sweatshirt and he could see the top of an almost invisible scar that ran vertically down, although he didn’t know how far. ‘Heart defect which couldn’t be operated on until I was old enough to cope with it.’

Noah was shocked. ‘That’s a lot for a child to go through alone,’ he said.

‘I wasn’t always alone,’ she told him. ‘My various foster carers were great. But by the time I’d had my operation at sixteen, I was too old to be adopted.’ She shrugged her shoulders but he could see the usual sparkle had dimmed in her eyes. ‘It was too late for me to have a family of my own.’

He felt stunned by her story, thinking that it was ironic that Beth’s heart had been defective when she appeared to have the biggest, most generous heart of anyone that he had ever met.

He suddenly felt very protective of her, wanting to shield her from any more pain.

‘I think it’s amazing that you’ve remained a very positive person,’ he found himself saying.

‘That sounds like a criticism,’ she replied, laughing. ‘But yeah, I want to embrace all that life has to offer. I have to be optimistic. I mean, what choice do I have otherwise? To be miserable and alone for the rest of my time? No way. My childhood wasn’t Disney perfect but I’m not going to let it cast a shadowover me now, am I?’

He gave a start. Is that what she thought of him? And was it true?

Thankfully he didn’t need to say anything as Beth had clicked back into chatty mode. ‘Friends and having a family of my own are so important to me these days. That’s why I believe in love and happy ever afters. I’ve had to. Some days it was the only thing that kept me going. That’s why you were the perfect fake boyfriend material. You don’t believe in love and I want nothing but the real deal.’ She looked at him. ‘I don’t want to be alone ever again. Not that I am. I mean, I have my best friends and they keep me going in the worst of times. Thank goodness. I didn’t really have any friends growing up. Life was pretty lonely going in and out of hospital all the time. I don’t want to feel like that ever again, to be honest.’

Noah considered what Beth was telling him and, for the first time, began to question whether his choice to remain on his own had rendered him lonely as well. Some days in the past when he had been working in the boatyard, he didn’t see or speak to another living soul. He’d even considered getting a dog at one stage, just to offset the isolation.

He was still somewhat overwhelmed by the closeness of everyone who lived at Maple Tree Lodge but perhaps he envied them as well? Deep down, he knew that was true.