Ruby enjoys the lunchtime rush. The Rock is different to the café in London, where she kept her head down, to avoid attention. Billy makes her feel welcome. He shows her how to pan-fry freshly caught fish, offering praise when she masters a new skill. His personality reminds her of her dad; she can’t help warming to him.
‘You’re a natural, Chloe. Maybe you should take over? I’ll do the prepping, you can run the show.’
‘In a million years,’ she says, laughing.
‘You’ve passed the trial with flying colours.’ Billy’s standing by the window, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. ‘Here’s lover boy, come to distract you.’
When Ruby sees Joe carrying her rucksack, her face breaks into a grin.
‘The lad’s nuts about you. Don’t hurt him, will you?’
‘Do I look like a heartbreaker, Billy?’
‘No, but the sweet ones are always the worst. Now scarper and get your room sorted. Mind you’re back here by six.’
‘I won’t let you down.’
She can’t explain why a rush of excitement hits her when she leaves the pub. The feeling is deeper than gratitude that Joe has carried out his promise to collect her things from the hotel on St Mary’s. It’s the first time a man has treated her so kindly since her dad. They’re holding hands when they climb the outdoor stairs to the accommodation block behind the pub. The air in the corridor smells stale, and the carpet is covered in ugly red swirls, but Ruby’s new room is spacious, with a modern en suite. The sea view is its best feature, the water littered with distant islands as the sun beats down.
‘This is perfect,’ she says.
‘You’ll be safe on Bryher, I promise.’ Joe puts his arm round her shoulders.
‘I hope you’re right. I feel at home here already.’
‘Has Billy introduced you to some of the locals?’
She nods. ‘Maggie’s lovely, and so’s Ben Kitto, with his scary wolfdog.’
‘Shadow’s fine once he knows you. Ben’s about to become a dad. I heard his girlfriend’s in Penzance hospital.’
Ruby doesn’t reply, her thoughts clouded by the news that Kitto’s girlfriend is out of reach on the mainland. She’ll have to travel there to finish her, and their baby too. The gesture would please her father, but it brings her little genuine comfort. She has no regrets about taking the lives of adults that caused his downfall, but a newborn child will be a harder matter.
‘It doesn’t feel right.’ The words slip from her mouth in a whisper.
‘How do you mean?’
She pushes the thought aside. ‘I was thinking about you and me. I’ve never been great at relationships, Joe, and my last was a disaster. I wasn’t planning on meeting anyone here.’
‘Me neither, but I got goosebumps when I saw you on the ferry.’
‘I struggle to trust people. Don’t let me down, will you?’
‘Never.’
His gaze is steady when he makes his promise. Ruby lets a few seconds pass before reaching up to kiss him, controlling the situation again, then turning away. She feels certain he’ll comply with every request if she keeps him sweet. She unpacks her few possessions, then follows him back out into the sunshine.