Chapter 24
Briony stirred the coffee, lost in thought. So, he knows my grandmother and my mum. Briony had been thinking about the conversation she’d overheard between Troy and his father as she made coffee for them and a sandwich for herself. She was about to pick up the cups of coffee and take them to the outbuilding when one of the kittens ran over and pounced on her shoe.
She looked down at the little kitten, who was playing with her laces, then knelt and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. Jerry, the ginger kitten, was waddling over towards her too. He was always following his brother Tom. She walked over and picked him up as well, cradling both kittens in her arms. They reminded her that she wanted to ask Troy if Willow could come along on Saturday. She expected Willow was missing the kittens.
Briony felt something else by her feet. She knew Luna was outside, with Troy. ‘Oh, Wilbur,’ Briony exclaimed, looking down. ‘How could I have forgotten about you?’ Preoccupied, she’d left him in the lounge when she’d gone into the kitchen to make the coffees and her sandwich. He’d been in all morning while she’d visited Joss, and the hospital; she imagined little Wilbur was dying for a wee.
Wilbur put his paws on her legs. ‘Ah, you want a cuddle too.’ She carefully put the kittens down on the floor, Wilbur sniffing them as she did so, and picked up her little dog instead. ‘Good boy. Let’s you and me go outside, eh? You’ve been very good not having any accidents indoors.’
She put Wilbur down and turned to the two cups of coffee. She decided to leave the kittens in the lounge with a few of their toys, a scratching post, and their litter tray, so she wouldn’t have to worry about leaving the kitchen door open. She didn’t want the inquisitive kittens getting out of the house. ‘There. You two play nice.’
Back in the kitchen, Briony found Wilbur waiting by the back door, bouncing from his left legs to his right legs like a child dying to use the loo. As she opened the door, she lowered her voice. ‘Now, if you don’t bark, perhaps I can be really naughty, and sneak up on the outbuilding, and see if there’s anything further of interest I might hear.’ Like how exactly Sebastian knew her mother.
Briony set off with the two cups of coffee. Wilbur immediately disappeared around the side of the outbuilding. She smiled. She was used to it now; Wilbur liked privacy when he was doing his business. She made a mental note to clear up after him as soon as she’d delivered the coffees.
Gingerly approaching the outbuilding, she could hear voices – Troy and Sebastian. She couldn’t hear what they were saying yet. She quickened her pace and had just reached the outbuilding when the sound of someone behind her, shouting out her name, made her jump.
Sebastian popped his head out of the door. ‘Is that our coffee?’ He smiled at her as he took a mug inside.
Troy appeared next. ‘How long have you been standing out here?’
Briony returned his frown. She didn’t like what he was implying, even though he was correct. The fact was that she hadn’t had a chance to eavesdrop any further. ‘I literally just walked up to the door when I heard somebody call my name. Here.’ She shoved the other mug of coffee at Troy, along with a black look, and turned around to see who had called her.
‘Briony – is it?’ An older man was striding along the beach from the direction of the car park.
‘Yes,’ Briony replied warily. ‘Can I help you?’ Her heart sank at the thought that it might be something to do with the hospital. Maybe they couldn’t get through to her on her mobile and had sent someone to fetch her. But would an NHS hospital really use their resources to do that? She doubted it.
‘I’m Peter,’ said the tall man with white hair, a slight stoop, and bright blue eyes.
Briony didn’t recognise the name as they shook hands. ‘Um, how can I help you?’
‘Ah, I think it’s more the case that I can help you.’
She didn’t understand. ‘Sorry, I’m not sure what—’
‘I’m here about the boat.’
Briony looked at him blankly, still at a loss.
The older man stooped low, so he was eye-to-eye with Briony. ‘My daughter, Clarissa, sent me. Said there was some old boat beached on the shore, and wanted me to do a favour for one of her dear friends.’
‘She called me a dear friend?’
‘Oh, yes. Quite a compliment. Especially as it sounds as though you two have only just met. You must have made quite an impression.’
Briony narrowed her eyes, thinking, Either that, or Troy has.
‘Anyway, she’s asked me if I can take a look at the boat.’
Briony grinned and clapped her hands. ‘Oh, yes! I really hope it can be fixed up.’ What an added delightful surprise that would be for her grandmother.
‘It would be great if you could,’ said Sebastian, appearing behind her, his voice bizarrely sending shivers down her spine. ‘Sorry, couldn’t help but overhear.’ He stepped forward to introduce himself to Peter. ‘I’m helping my son out, renovating the old outbuilding.’
‘I see. Do you have any experience with boats?’
‘Not fixing them up, no.’
‘You sail then?’
‘Ah, a long time ago, yes.’
‘In this boat?’ asked Peter.
Briony looked at Peter.
‘Yes, I used to sail it. I’ve got … fond memories. I’d hate to see the boat have to go for scrap.’
Briony turned around and looked at Sebastian. She was dying to ask him if he’d ever sailed in this boat with her mother. She recalled what she’d overheard him say to Troy – Briony looks the spitting image of her mother.
‘Well, let me take a look, see what can be done,’ said Peter.
Briony stared at Sebastian. When she had first seen Sebastian, he’d been standing beside the boat, lost in thought. She wondered whether he’d been lost in memories from the past – perhaps memories of her mother.
Briony walked behind the two men up the beach towards the boat, listening to their conversation with interest.
‘Got a special significance for you, has it?’ Peter asked Sebastian. ‘Most boats do, you know.’
‘Belonged to my girl’s grandparents.’
Peter said, ‘Your girl?’
Briony caught Sebastian glance over his shoulder at her before he replied. ‘Oh, it was just a teenage crush, a lifetime ago. We used to dive together. We both loved the ocean.’
Briony frowned. He couldn’t be talking about her mum. She didn’t like the sea, and she certainly couldn’t dive – could she? But she knew he must be talking about Lorna; she was an only child.
‘I taught her sailing and scuba diving, along with another good friend of ours.’
‘Well, perhaps if I can fix this boat, you can use it to go sailing and diving together again next summer.’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘No, that’s not going to happen.’
Briony stared at Sebastian. She had so many questions about her mother, but she didn’t want to break the spell. Sebastian seemed to have forgotten she was there, right behind him, as he walked with Peter, talking about his past.
‘We … lost touch.’
‘Ah, that’s a shame,’ said Peter. ‘Drifted apart, did you?’
‘No, I sent her letters, but never got a reply. We had plans to meet at The Beach House, but even though she gave me a key, she never turned up.’ He paused. ‘Sorry, not sure why I’m telling you all this.’
Peter said, ‘Sometimes it’s good just to get things off your chest.’
‘Yeah, you’re a good listener. My father … well he’d just tell me to shut up and get on with it.’
‘That’s not very kind, when you’re sharing your innermost thoughts.’
‘No, it isn’t. That’s why sharing in our family is never a good idea. I just hope my son, Troy, doesn’t feel that way about me.’
‘Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t. What about the other … friend you were talking about?’
‘She’s gone.’
‘I’m sorry for your loss.’
‘Thank you. She had a child really young, so I stepped in, even though I wasn’t the father, and brought up Troy.’
‘You must have been really good friends to do that,’ commented Peter.
‘We were, yes.’
‘But you must have only been eighteen,’ Briony blurted, followed in quick succession by, ‘Does Troy know you’re not his real dad?’ Briony rolled her eyes, immediately regretting opening her big mouth and voicing her thoughts.
Sebastian slowly turned around. She thought he’d tell her to mind her own business. After all, it really was no concern of hers.
An apology was just on the tip of her tongue, when he said, ‘It’s true, I was young. And yes, Troy knows.’
‘So, he’s not Willow’s biological half-brother?’
Sebastian’s silence said it all.
‘Then why—?’
‘Willow is too young right now to understand that relationships can be … complicated. I brought up Troy as my son. He is my son, although we’re not biologically related. Willow will know in time. But right now, all she needs to know is that Troy is her big brother.’
Briony bit her lower lip. She still had so many questions. How on earth had he ended up bringing up someone else’s child? There must have been more to it than being good friends, taking on such a huge commitment when he was barely an adult himself.
She had a feeling he was holding something back. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask. They barely knew one another. His personal life was none of her business. Although she did say, ‘If Peter fixes the boat, will you take me out in it?’
Unfortunately, Troy’s timing couldn’t have been worse. He must have been walking towards the house with his empty coffee mug when he overheard Briony’s question. ‘Briony, he hasn’t come here to take you out sailing!’
‘I’ll make time,’ said Sebastian. He turned around and smiled at her. ‘Perhaps you’d like to learn to dive, too?’
Troy looked at him, exasperated. ‘If you saw her swimming, you would not ask her that.’
‘You’ve been swimming in the sea together?’
Briony glared at Troy. Why had he brought that up? She said, ‘No, we have not. It was just an unfortunate misunderstanding. I went for a dip, and silly Troy here got all flustered and thought I was drowning.’
‘I was not flustered.’
‘You appeared to be when you carried me out of the water. Which was totally unnecessary, I should add.’
Sebastian looked at Troy. ‘You carried her out of the water?’
Peter slapped his knee and suddenly guffawed. ‘You two ...’ he pointed at Briony and Troy ‘... remind me of me and the wife when we were young. The silly, petty arguments we used to have. Of course we always made up, and could laugh about it, in hindsight, but they used to be godawful. Like you two, we both stood our ground, convinced we were right.’ He smiled. ‘You know, if Clarissa was here right now, she’d say you two make the cutest couple.’
‘Well, we’re not a couple,’ Briony said, still angry with Troy for bringing up the swimming incident.
‘No? Well, perhaps you should be.’
Briony grabbed the mug out of Troy’s hand. ‘Give me that!’ She stormed off into The Beach House.
Troy turned on his heel and stormed off in the other direction, back to the outbuilding.
‘Well, would you look at that?’ said Peter.
Sebastian frowned. ‘Look at what?’
‘Two people in love.’