It was Saturday afternoon when Finn next had chance to take Siren from Curlew the short distance up the creek to the boatyard.
Joey was aboard his own boat, Spindrift, but seeing Finn approach, he climbed out and helped him tie up alongside the boatyard jetty.
‘Have you brought her in to fix that auto helm?’ Joey asked, climbing aboard.
‘Yes. It’s an intermittent problem, so I’d like to see if I can sort it before I have to splash out on a replacement.’
‘Intermittent fault? Worst bloody kind. Want a hand?’
‘Yeah. Thanks.’ Finn was a little taken aback to find Joey in such a cordial mood, before reminding himself that he shouldn’t be. He and Joey had always, by and large, got on and they were still close. If he was honest, it was only since Lauren and Joey had split that they’d grown apart.
The little niggles and competitive spats that were part and parcel of their relationship – of any relationship between siblings, Finn supposed – had blown up into bigger rows or simmered between them at a low level. Joey had been hurt badly when Lauren had left and worrying that he’d had a hand in the split only made Finn more upset that their relationship was not as good as it could have been.
As the afternoon wore on, he was able to relax a little as they worked together, absorbed in the job, or talking about boats: their own and other people’s, ones they’d like to own one day.
It had been too long since they’d spent time like this together – messing about on the boats for pure pleasure – and it reminded him of the bond they’d once had. Or still had. Perhaps it hadn’t entirely been severed yet.
Finn found a couple of beers in the fridge and brought them up on deck.
They stood for a moment, enjoying the contrast of cold beer and the hot early June sun on their faces.
‘Thanks for the help,’ Finn said.
‘You’re welcome.’ Joey tilted his beer to his lips and wiped his mouth. They drank their beers but Finn’s eyes were drawn to the opposite side of the water, where the afternoon sun glinted off the upper windows of Cornish Magick.
Joey must have noticed, given his next words.
‘By the way, I’ve invited Oriel’s new lodger to take a look around the boatyard tomorrow.’
‘You mean Rose?’
‘Yes. She came to the yacht club party and she wants to learn to sail. I suggested she have a look at Spindrift and the yard at the same time. I thought I’d warn you.’
The hairs on the back of Finn’s neck stood on end. He might have known Joey was brewing something.
‘Why would you need to warn me?’
‘I didn’t want you to be surprised when she turned up.’
Finn shrugged. ‘It’s fine with me.’ He’d wondered if Rose had gone to the party, but hadn’t wanted to ask Joey. Now he had his answer. Rose obviously hadn’t told Joey that she’d had a coffee at the pub with Finn, either. Why would she? It was only a coffee.
‘When’s the first date?’ he said, as jokily as he could manage. ‘Is it on land or water?’
‘Neither. I haven’t asked her on a proper date.’
‘But you will.’
‘I don’t know. I’d like to,’ Joey said.
‘For all you know, she might have some bloke at home,’ Finn said. ‘A partner – or a husband.’
‘I doubt it.’ Joey scrutinised him. ‘Look. Do you know something I don’t?’
‘If you mean about Rose, no.’
‘If she has, well he’s not here to see us, is he?’ Joey replied.
Finn shrugged, on the verge of saying, ‘You wouldn’t have liked it if some guy had taken Lauren from you behind your back,’ but he realised in time that that would have been the worst thing he could possibly say. Incendiary even.
He drank his beer then shrugged. ‘It’s nothing to do with me.’
Instead of a sarcastic reply, he found a hand on his arm. ‘Hey, bro.’
He glanced up. ‘What?’
‘If it’s a sore point … if you’re interested in Rose, then I won’t stand in your way. She did mention you’d already met …’
Finn’s guts twisted, but he laughed. There was no way he was going to let Joey think he’d also been taken with Rose or interfere in his brother’s love life. ‘It’s none of my business but I don’t think romance is on her mind.’
‘Are you trying to say she’s out of my league?’
‘I don’t think she’s interested in a relationship. She seems dedicated to her work to me.’
‘Maybe, but I can always try to help her see there’s more to life than a pile of old stones and a pisky shop.’ Joey grinned.
‘She won’t hang around, you know.’
‘Since when has that been a bad thing?’ Joey asked.
‘You’re not immune to getting burned.’
‘Is this a warning about Lauren again? That’s ancient history.’ He laughed. ‘See what I did there?’
‘I didn’t hear you laughing at the time. I seem to recall you were really upset. You’ve not been the same since – sowing your wild oats.’
Joey’s reply was full of scorn. ‘Sowing my wild oats? I’m thirty-two, not fifty-two. I don’t want to be tied down with a load of kids.’
‘You did want that once.’
Joey’s eyes glinted with anger. ‘Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Lauren deciding she could do better was the best thing that could have happened.’
Finn thanked his stars that no one, not even Joey, could see inside his heart and find it racked with guilt about Lauren. She’d told Joey that she wanted to spread her wings and that staying in the village was stifling her. She’d taken a job in a London hospital to further her career and live ‘a bigger life’. Finn desperately wanted to believe that that was one hundred per cent the reason.
‘She never said she could do better,’ Finn said. ‘She left because of her career. Don’t make yourself a martyr.’
‘What do you know about it?’ Joey said coldly.
‘OK. I don’t want to fight. I’m sorry I even made a comment. Think what you want. Do what you want. You will, whatever I say.’ Finn decided to take his empty bottle below.. He needed to get out of his brother’s way before he said something they’d both regret.
Joey’s anger ballooned. ‘I’m a grown-up despite what you may think and Rose definitely doesn’t need a protector. You don’t need to act like a knight in shining armour looking out for her virtue. She knows her own mind, if you haven’t noticed.’
Finn had noticed. It was all he thought about lately: and not only Rose’s mind.
‘Do you know what she’s looking for from this relationship? Does she know what you’re looking for? Do you?’
‘Oh for …’ Joey almost swore. He stared at Finn. ‘It’s you who needs to look at what he wants. Because from my point of view, it seems like you want Rose for yourself and you just won’t admit it.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I hardly know her. Neither of us does.’
‘And I’ve been trying to put that right. Christ, Finn, you sound like you’re scared of her.’
‘That’s so stupid I won’t even reply.’ Turning his back on Joey, Finn went below. He heard Joey thump along the deck and climb onto the jetty then walk away.
He took the bottles below, emptied the rubbish from the bin, cleaned the head – otherwise known as the toilet – and gathered up the sleeping bags he kept on board to take to the marina laundry. God, he must be angry if he’d resorted to shit jobs like that.
Despite every effort, he couldn’t dislodge Rose Vernon from his mind, like a nail that wouldn’t be prised out of a hull. She stuck in his thoughts, and not only because he was so drawn to her physically. She was guarded, and she was interested in Joey – and perhaps in Finn himself – yet he was sure she wasn’t looking for romance.