Chapter 44
January was heralded in with mild Atlantic storm fronts, soaking the country over and over. Gone were the sunny skies of December, now everywhere was dull and dark, subdued by the heavy grey clouds overhead.
Despite the awful weather, Noah and Ben continued to work on the three remaining lodges. Thankfully they had been made watertight before the bad weather had rolled in so they could carry on fitting them ready to be rented out in the spring.
Noah had particularly enjoyed making the furniture from wood that had come from the surrounding forest.
‘This is a great piece,’ said Walter one morning, running his hand across the coffee table that Noah had just brought into one of the lodges. ‘I like that it’s a cross-section. Look at those rings. It’s got to be over a hundred years old.’
Noah nodded. ‘It was one of those older trees that came down in the storms before Christmas. There are some beautiful cuts that I want to use for the kitchen cupboards in here.’
‘It’s looking great,’ said Ben, looking over from where he had been hanging a blind at the window.
‘Reckon we’ll be done in time for those first bookings at Easter?’ asked Walter.
‘Absolutely,’ replied Ben, coming back down the stepladder.
‘Well, if you need extra help, I’m up and running now,’ said Walter.
‘There’ll be no running if Grandma has her way,’ said Ben, giving his grandad a pointed look.
‘All this mollycoddling is driving me insane,’ muttered Walter, frowning.
‘How did you get on with those drawers for the boat cabin?’ asked Noah.
Walter immediately looked more cheerful. ‘Finished them this morning,’ he replied.
‘Excellent,’ Noah told him. ‘I look forward to seeing them later.’
‘Do you want me to start work on the matching cupboard doors?’ asked Walter.
‘Absolutely,’ replied Noah. ‘If you’ve nothing else on, that is.’
‘Nothing but my own time.’ Walter headed to the front door. ‘Right. I’ll get going on them now.’
‘See you later,’ called out Ben, before looking at his cousin. ‘Well done,’ he said. ‘Keeping him busy but safe has been an ongoing issue this past year so I’m grateful for some help in that regard.’
Noah nodded. ‘We can both protect him,’ he replied.
He was discovering that perhaps he was more like his great-uncle than he had initially realised.
After all, he understood all about keeping busy.
Work had been the one constant throughout his life that had kept him company when he had been so alone.
It had helped to keep his mind from going towards darker thoughts at times too.
These days though, he felt a lightening of the spirit inside of him.
Working on the lodges had brought him a newfound sense of being part of a team and he was enjoying Ben’s company.
Day by day they were growing closer and he even found that he was automatically included whenever Alex and Jake were around to play a game or two in the snug.
‘What do you think of the blinds?’ asked Ben.
Noah nodded, as he looked at the autumnal pattern on them. ‘Looks good,’ he replied. ‘So it’s going to be decorated differently to my lodge?’
My lodge. He still found that hard to get his head around.
‘Yeah, Lily wanted yours to be more personal,’ Ben told him. ‘Everything in here is a little more durable for the high turnover. Hopefully,’ he added, with a grimace.
‘They’ll come,’ Noah assured him. ‘How could they not? I mean, waking up to this view every day? I tell you, it’s incredible.’
‘For what it’s worth, you seem happy.’
Noah looked at his cousin in surprise. He was happy, he realised, before frowning to himself. The person he had to thank for his happiness was Beth.
Ben shook his head as he watched him but he was smiling. ‘Hey, it’s not the end of the world to be content in life, you know.’
Noah nodded and wandered over to the doorway to look out across the lake. He stood and watched as he spotted Beth rushing along the path towards the Boathouse Café, no doubt to help Hannah out with the busy coffee morning shift.
From the outside, it would appear that nothing had changed between them in the past fortnight.
She was as cheerful and chatty as ever whenever they were together.
Superficially she was merry as usual but Noah knew she was upset.
She hadn’t visited him in the barn where the boat was since Christmas.
He knew it was his own fault. He had told her that their kiss on Christmas morning had been a mistake and that had been the truth.
The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her.
He had always considered his own childhood particularly awful but at least he had had one parent around, most of the time.
Beth’s story though had touched him deeply and the more he got to know her, the more he realised just how vastly different their own dreams were.
She wanted a serious relationship and love, all the things that he didn’t believe in.
So in order to protect her, he had told her that they should be just friends and he had meant it. He cared too much to lead her on, no matter how much he wanted to kiss her again. It just wouldn’t be fair on her.
Noah felt Ben wander over to join him at the doorway where they both looked across the lake to where Beth was about to reach the boathouse.
‘So you’re enjoying living in the lodge?’ asked Ben.
‘How could I not?’ replied Noah. ‘It’s the most incredible place I’ve ever lived.’
‘You know,’ said Ben, turning around to stare at the inside of the lodge, ‘these places are a great size. Definitely big enough for two people to live here.’
Noah gave his cousin a pained look. ‘That’s not going to happen,’ he said, with a shake of his head.
Ben merely shrugged his shoulders. ‘You never know,’ he replied.
‘If you let someone in, they will only hurt you,’ stated Noah. It had been his mantra from day one, his rule in life to live by.
‘Not here, they won’t,’ said Ben. ‘You know the family wouldn’t hurt you. And I’m pretty certain Beth wouldn’t either.’
Noah looked at his cousin. ‘I didn’t know we were talking about Beth,’ he said.
Ben gave him a long look. ‘My mistake. So,’ he carried on, turning away. ‘What’s next? The kitchen, I reckon.’
Noah relaxed, knowing that Ben would never push him to open up regarding any kind of relationship with Beth and he was grateful. And yet he couldn’t stop himself from glancing back across the lake. But Beth had already disappeared out of sight.