Chapter 21
CLARA
‘Where are you off to then?’ the cabbie says as he loads my two suitcases into his black cab. ‘A jaunt away for a bit of sun?’
‘Not quite,’ I say as, standing there on the pavement, I give my brother a long hug.
‘You’ll be fine, C,’ Minty says, holding me so tight I feel the air flatten out of my lungs. ‘Any problems, your room will always be here.’
We both glance at the house we grew up in. There are so many memories contained within those four walls.
I’ve made sure the freezer is fully stocked.
I’ve dredged the last corners of the washing basket, and the airing cupboard has had every towel and sheet and tea towel folded or pressed.
I hope Minty is going to be all right without me.
He says he will, and you never know, without me in the house, maybe he’ll even get brave enough to bring a few girls back.
Never mind my love life, in looking after me, I kind of feel he may have forgotten to get his own.
I choke back the tears. ‘You know I love you, Minty,’ I mumble between sobs.
He holds me at arm’s length so he can see into my eyes. ‘And there’s me thinking, all those years, that you were here for the cheap rent.’
I laugh.
As the taxi pulls away, I wave back at Minty till my arm aches.
‘Hate those goodbyes,’ the cabbie says sagely.
‘Yup.’ I pull an already damp tissue over my tear-streaked cheeks.
The driver glances at my mess of a face in the rectangle of his mirror. ‘But it’s time to move on, eh?’
‘You got it.’ I smile sadly, glancing out of the window as the area I love flits past. When Marco said to me, ‘Why don’t we take it slowly?’ I didn’t quite get it at first, but now I can’t wait to start.
As my car pulls up at the marina, I catch sight of the man I love standing on one of the long pontoons flanking the water, and still, after all this time, my heart beats ten to the dozen when I see him.
I can’t ever imagine losing that excitement, although I have to admit, our romance was certainly not all plain sailing.
Learning curve might be a better description.
Marco healed up fine after the accident.
All the broken bones are mended, and some of the things that neither of us knew even needed to be fixed, like our terrible communication skills, ironed themselves out with a little practice.
Getting rid of the stress of work, the pretence of being someone that he’s not, allowed a whole different kind of Marco to emerge.
He plays the music he likes on an acoustic guitar.
Just a cheap one he picked up on Gumtree.
There’s a lot of enjoyment to be found when life doesn’t have to be designer perfect, when you can just be true to yourself.
I know he feels better now waking up clear-headed, after choosing herbal tea over whisky in the evening.
The twelve-step meetings in the church basement had been harder than any board meeting for Marco, but they’d given him something the music industry never could: an ability to be honest with himself.
Moving forward, I know he will have to make a daily choice to stay sober, but I’m going to be with him, not trying to fix him, but being there while he fixes himself.
I jump out of the taxi and wave excitedly to him.
Instantly, he’s striding towards me, a massive smile on that cheeky chiselled face of his.
I’m barely able to keep my feet from dancing on the hard stone quay of the dock as we glance out over the marina. There are so many boats. ‘So, which one’s ours?’ I ask.
‘Only the best for my beautiful songbird,’ he says, taking my hand in his and kissing the bridge of my knuckles as if he never wants to let me go.
Then I see it. I see it because the boat is covered in ‘Just Married’ bunting and lights – a double Dutch barge, Tiffany blue, with a canopy at the back.
‘Married?’ I say, my eyes narrowing.
‘Sure, why not? Nelly left you a dress in one of the cabins.’
I clap like an excited child.
‘And I knew you wouldn’t go through the whole thing without your brother and the entire entourage, so they’re set to meet us at St Anne’s in around,’ he glances at his watch, ‘an hour or so.’ He looks deeply into my eyes. ‘That is, if you say yes.’
I smile so wide my jaw aches. ‘Does that boat have running water and a power point for my hair tongs?’
‘Is this the 21st century?’
‘Yes. Yes. Yes, to all of it. I love it,’ I squeal as he picks me up and twirls me around. ‘I love you, the boat, the open water. This is absolutely the perfect harmony.’
And he kisses me because he can hear it too, we both can: the best tune on the entire planet. The absolute winner – the notes between us, the one thing that keeps the whole world turning, notes made up of friendship, family and love.