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‘Thanks.’ Taking the lattes back from him, she watched as he lifted the anchor and pushed them away from the pontoon as the engine roared to life beneath them. ‘I’ve not been on a boat since I was about ten.’
‘Really?’ Glancing at her, he raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re not going to get seasick on me, are you?’
‘Ha-ha, I hope not. I feel fine at the moment.’ Carmen laughed as they set sail across the water.
‘That’s a relief then.’ He chuckled. ‘There’s a lovely little spot around these cliffs where we can sit and watch the seals.’
‘Sounds nice.’ She watched as he looped the boat around some cliffs to the far side of the harbour before slowing to a stop.
‘Here we go. Look across at the cove. Can you see the seals?’
Squinting against the sun, Carmen nodded. Yes, she could see a group of seals lounging on the sand and a few more on a rocky outcrop closer to the boat.
‘I love this place. You can’t get to the small cove on foot, so the wildlife is protected and the seals seem to realise that.’ He settled onto the bench next to her. ‘There’s another little cove next to the beach at Penworth Bay, which you can get to. If you’re careful not to go at high tide, that is. I can take you there one day if you’d like?’
‘Yes, that sounds lovely.’
‘It is. Only the locals know about it as it’s hidden from view, so it’s usually very quiet.’
Carmen passed him his sandwich and latte. ‘I’ve got to ask; how did you get into working at a boatyard and repairing boats? It’s completely different from your estate agent role back in Huddersfield.’
He chuckled as he unwrapped his sandwich. ‘Yes, it is a little different. I wanted to work as close to home as possible so that I could spend as much time with Ava as I could. So I knew I had to change tracks and retrain. A job came up at the boatyard with hours that meant I could pick Ava up from school, so I applied. To say I was shocked to be offered the job is an understatement.’
‘Wow, they took you on with no experience?’ She took a bite of her sandwich.
‘Yep. Apparently, they wanted someone local who was guaranteed to stay around for a while. The previous person had left to go back to Wales, I think it was. With me having Ava, they knew I’d stick around. I guess they knew they’d get their money’s worth out of me if they gave me the training.’ He shrugged. ‘I love it and now I run the boatyard.’
Carmen nodded.
‘Tricia, Ava’s grandmother, comes round in the morning to look after Ava when I leave. She gets her to school for me, too. I couldn’t have done any of this without her.’ He leaned back against the back of the bench. ‘It’s funny how things work out, but I’m happy here. Happy in my job. Happy being a dad. And now you’ve come back into my life too.’ He grinned.
‘It’s just such a coincidence, us both ending up down here. Even if I’m only visiting for a few weeks.’
‘It really is.’ Straightening his back, he rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I need to talk to you about something. Something that’s been playing on my mind since we spoke at the pub quiz.’
‘Oh, what’s that?’ She swallowed and looked down at the half-eaten sandwich in her hand. He was going to tell her this was just a fling, wasn’t he? That he’d thought things through, and he couldn’t see a future together. And there she was, about to ask him about keeping up a long-distance relationship. She’d jumped in too quickly. She’d assumed he’d wanted to take off where they’d left off, like he’d suggested last night.
‘When you go back home...’
She held her hand up, palm forward. She didn’t need to hear him say it. ‘You just see this as a fling, don’t you?’
‘What? No, nothing of the sort, the complete opposite.’ He frowned. ‘I was going to ask you if you’d consider a long-distance relationship when you go back. I really want to see where things go with you, with us. We’re good together, we always were.’
‘Oh, right.’ She looked across at him. ‘Sorry, I just assumed... I was actually going to ask you the same thing and then when you said you wanted to talk, I just assumed...’
‘Maybe we should both stop guessing what each other wants and just talk. If I had spoken to you when I found out about Ava, we might still be together. Instead, I just assumed I knew best.’ He shook his head.
She smiled. ‘I think not assuming and talking more is a good idea.’ Shifting closer to him on the bench, she leaned her head on his shoulder as she watched two more seals clamber up the rocky outcrop.
