Chapter 9
Hannah wasn’t sure what had happened over the couple of days she’d been aboard the Ballygowan.
It wasn’t that she had reinvented herself – one of the avenues she had told herself she could explore should she so wish – it was more as though she’d placed her real life on hold for a few weeks while she inhabited an alternative world.
She wasn’t different, but everything else was.
She now had her mobile constantly on silent. It was too big a leap to leave it switched off – and anyway, she wanted contact with her family, or at least certain members of it; needed to be able to reassure them that she hadn’t jumped overboard or killed herself with a shuffleboard puck.
And while Ian was still ringing, messaging and texting, it was becoming easier to ignore.
In a strange way, Hannah felt relief at not having to speak to him.
They’d been together one way or another for getting on for a decade – he had been her only serious boyfriend – and when she’d found out what he’d done, Hannah thought she wouldn’t be able to function without him.
And yet here she was, walking and talking and breathing – and right now she was heading for the Harvest Basket for dinner with her new friend Ruth, her new painting buddy, Millie, and a decent appetite that wasn’t the result of lack of food, but could quite possibly be to do with the amount of fresh air she’d imbibed on her recently completed wander around the promenade deck.
She might be doing nothing more than deflecting reality, but for now that would do very nicely.
‘Do you mind if Nathan joins us as well?’ Ruth said as Hannah took her seat at the table.
‘Of course not,’ Hannah replied.
‘You say that now,’ Millie chipped in, ‘but you haven’t met him.’
‘I’m sure he’s lovely,’ Hannah said, picking up a menu and glancing at the choices.
‘He’s hungry,’ Ruth said, her words weighted. ‘I expect that’s got more to do with his decision to join us.’
A gangly teenager wandered across the restaurant, all sloping shoulders and longish curly hair, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. Nathan, Hannah assumed, when he flowed into the vacant chair next to Ruth and crossed his arms.
‘This is Hannah,’ Ruth said, gesturing across the table.
A bounce of reddish-brown curls covering most of his face with the merest of nods was as much of a greeting as Hannah was expecting, but then he scraped his hair back and stared at her, before mumbling more of a greeting and grabbing for a menu card.
‘Nice to meet you too, Nathan,’ she said, watching with interest as his cheeks flared with colour and he sank further behind the menu.
‘Mum, can I have the “Toboggan blue-cheese burger” and fries as well?’ Millie said.
‘Do you even like blue cheese?’ Nathan said from behind his menu card.
‘I’m sure I do. Plus, I’m especially into blue at the moment, aren’t I, Hannah?’ Millie nudged Hannah’s elbow and grinned.
‘That’s as may be, but that type of cheese has got a strong taste,’ Ruth said.
Hannah wondered how long it had taken the captain to become aware of the splodge of blue on the back of his shirt. Wondered if she should have said something at the time, to have made him aware. She felt a bubble of guilt at having stayed quiet.
As it turned out, Millie enjoyed her burger, complete with Stilton melt, and Hannah watched with fascination as Nathan packed away more food than she’d ever seen anyone eat, even Ian when he’d been at the height of his rugby training.
As Nathan perused the pudding choices, Ruth suggested coffee, then said, ‘Would you come with me to the captain’s Q&A thing tomorrow evening?
I’d love to go but I don’t know that I fancy sitting there on my own.
Also, can I just say, have you seen the captain?
He isn’t exactly difficult on the eye, is he? ’
Nathan shuffled himself further down in his chair, looking like he wished the floor would swallow him.
‘You know Hannah’s seen the captain, Mum,’ Millie said. ‘I told you she knows him.’
Ruth blushed. ‘Yes, I know that, Mils. It was more of a turn of phrase, rather than an actual question.’
Nathan flapped the menu down. ‘What Mum’s saying is she thinks he’s “leng”, which is really cringey. He’s, like, a fraction of her age. It’s toe-curling.’
‘I could say the same about your father and Janey,’ Ruth said, her voice tight.
Nathan’s shoulders froze, and Hannah noticed a vulnerable wobble in his expression.
‘Anyway, Nathan, that’s the last thing on my mind right now. I just meant that Hannah might enjoy it.’ Ruth grinned at her as she climbed to her feet to go and get coffee, and Hannah couldn’t think of a suitable rebuttal as she watched Ruth walk away.
Hannah headed for the ship’s theatre the following evening, frowning when she realised Ruth had organised seats in the centre of the second row, right in front of the stage.
The couple of easy chairs placed at a conversation angle, set either side of a low table, were the only dressing on the stage apart from a large box on legs – presumably holding the questions for the captain – beside one of the chairs.
The backdrop of the stage held a slideshow of photos, mostly of Blue Line Cruising ships, and hand-picked promotional pictures of their interiors.
‘Couldn’t we sit further back?’ Hannah said as Ruth pointed out their seats and settled into hers.
‘What’s the point of that?’ Ruth asked, looking utterly confused. ‘If we’re any further back we won’t be able to see properly. You’ve got twenty-something-year-old eyes. I haven’t.’
‘But…’
‘Weirdly, Nathan asked to join us. So, that means Millie is coming as well, because I didn’t want her to be on her own in the cabin.’ Ruth gestured to the vacant seats on her other side.
When Ruth’s kids arrived, Nathan mumbled an awkward greeting before slinking into his seat, followed by an ever-enthusiastic Millie. The more time she spent with them, the more Hannah realised how like her mother Millie was.
With the auditorium suitably full and humming with voices, the lighting dipped to leave a couple of pools of light on the stage. The backdrop dimmed, too, highlighting a huge photo of Captain King, his grin wide and eyes dancing as his captured image stared out over the auditorium.
‘Well, hello sailor,’ Ruth murmured, and Nathan’s awkwardness was palpable from two seats away.
Then a voice announced the arrival of the ‘star of this evening’s show’ and to generous applause a couple of figures walked with purpose onto the stage.
‘Wow. OK, so this isn’t at all awkward,’ said the captain, his voice echoing around the room through the PA system as he glanced at the ten-foot version of himself, grimaced and took his seat.
The majority of the auditorium laughed, and Hannah felt herself grin as the interviewer made a formal introduction of the captain.
It proved remarkably easy to listen to the captain talk about his route into working for Blue Line Cruising.
He was frank and open about his life as an officer on board the Ballygowan, talked about his favourite destinations and all the places he had yet to visit.
He reassured everyone that although this was his first time as captain, he knew the ship inside out, he was fully qualified, and they were all completely safe.
The round of applause and laughter from the audience had him relaxing, and Hannah settled into her seat.
The pile of answered question papers mounted on the table between the chairs, and then the interviewer pulled out another piece of paper, read the scrawl of writing held on it and grinned.
‘Now we’re getting somewhere,’ he said, waggling the piece of paper at the captain.
‘Why? What does it say?’
‘Someone in this audience would like to know whether or not you’re single!’
There was some cheering and plenty of clapping.
The captain’s facial expression flexed with obvious discomfort at the personal intrusion, but he recovered quickly, glancing out into the audience. His expression grew intense for a moment, before breaking into a brilliant smile – like storm clouds parting to allow the sun a look at the world.
‘I’m captain of a sixty-two-thousand-tonne cruise liner, with almost two thousand people aboard – I can assure you that the last thing on my mind right now is romance.’
Groans and giggles from the audience had the interviewer gesturing out into the auditorium. ‘Some disappointed ladies out there by the sound of it, Captain.’
‘I think that’s an exaggeration, Hamish, but thanks for the vote of confidence.’
‘I think we have time for one more – this time, someone would like to know if it’s true there is a ship’s cat on board.’
It had to be her imagination, but it seemed as though the captain was staring at her.
It was difficult to shift the feeling, except that the lights on the stage must be bright – he probably had no idea who he was looking at.
And that should be a good thing, shouldn’t it?
After all, there was no reason to want the captain to be staring at her, was there?
‘Do you know what?’ Ruth said as the evening came to an end, and they stood to gather their belongings. ‘There’s something really familiar to me about the captain. Which is bonkers because I know I’ve never met him.’
Hannah could offer no explanation, and when Millie asked if Hannah had met the cat, and Hannah said she had, Millie harrumphed and demanded she take her to the bridge to meet Portus, as though Hannah herself was a regular up there.
‘Well, let’s worry about meeting the cat another day,’ Ruth said. ‘I think we should head to a bar for a drink. I’ll get you kids a ginger beer or something if you continue to behave.’
‘An alcoholic one?’ Nathan asked.
‘Oh, Nath, what do you think?’ Ruth replied.