Chapter 12
The sun had already set when I headed out of the village on foot to Gabe’s boat, but the clear sky still held an orangey glow and the air was fresh and cold. A few tables were occupied outside the Riverside Hotel, and lights and music spilled from the bar out on to the terrace. I carried on along the tow path to the jetty where the narrowboats were moored.
‘Hello,’ I called, spotting Gabe on deck.
He was unpacking the contents of a cardboard box, one of several heaped up and taking up most of the space.
‘Welcome aboard The Neptune,’ he said, holding out a hand to help me climb across. ‘Our first visitor in Barnaby.’
‘Thank you. I’ve heard all about it from Verity. But it’s my first time on a narrowboat.’
I wobbled a bit as I stepped on to the deck and I gripped his hand for balance. There wasn’t much space and my nose was almost touching his jumper. He bent to kiss my cheek and I caught the scent of his aftershave: ruggedly masculine with a hint of leather and wood. I had the urge to bury my nose in his neck and sniff to my heart’s content. I’d been single for too long, clearly.
‘Sorry. Narrow being the operative word on here at the moment.’ He nodded towards the boxes. ‘A delivery courtesy of my mother.’
I glanced at the boxes labelled with words like: ‘Gabe work suits’, ‘Mimi books’, ‘G&M wedding’ …
‘She’s been storing stuff since Mimi died and now she’s decided she hasn’t got room for it any more.’
I looked at the tower of boxes and then through the cabin doors into a tiny galley kitchen. ‘What are you going to do with it all?’
‘No idea.’ He scratched his head. ‘There’s more inside, Noah is sifting through it like a prospector panning for gold. Come on in, I’ll give you the tour.’
‘Cake as requested,’ I said, holding out a bag, ‘and wine.’
‘You can come again.’ He grinned and gestured towards the cabin door. ‘After you.’
We walked into the kitchen and through the living area. Gabe pointed out all the mod cons, albeit in miniature, the curtains he’d sewed himself, Noah’s artwork Blu-Tacked on to the door of the larder and a photo of him and Noah at Verity’s cookery school.
‘Which reminds me,’ I frowned, ‘it’s odd that Verity didn’t mention you were coming to Barnaby.’
‘Ah.’ Gabe looked sheepish. ‘I haven’t told her yet. I love Verity to bits, but she and my mum won’t be happy until they’ve organized my life and married me off. Mum is currently sulking because I didn’t move back home with her; hence returning my stuff. I haven’t plucked up the courage to break the news to Verity yet. She wanted me to move to Plumberry.’
‘I’ll have to tell her I’ve seen you,’ I said, ‘or she’ll never speak to me again.’
He pulled a resigned face. ‘I’ll ring her tonight. Promise. OK, onwards with the tour. The smallest master suite ever,’ he said with a grin, opening a narrow door.
A double bed filled most of the space, a shelf above the bed held a single picture frame containing a wedding photograph, and a box, marked ‘Gabe’s books’, sat in the corner.
‘But big enough,’ I said earnestly.
‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘Big enough.’
We both blushed. Gabe looked at his feet.
‘So. You’re a big reader?’ I said, changing the subject swiftly.
‘Yes, I am,’ he said with a gush of relief. ‘Once Noah’s asleep I tend to go to bed early and read. The walls are so thin that the TV would wake him. Although, on nice nights I sometimes go mad and sit on deck with a beer. Rock ’n’ roll, hey?’
My heart squeezed for him; it sounded quite a lonely life.
‘It sounds good to me,’ I said, smiling up at him as he closed the door and opened the next one, which led to a shower room.
‘What does, an early night?’
I punched him playfully and decided not to answer that one. Although an early night with Gabe … I could see definite benefits to that. I’d been too busy over the last month to think about men, but now, in close proximity to one, my hormones were waking up very quickly. I gave myself a shake; this was Gabe, a friend, not someone whose heart I could play fast and loose with. Besides, Verity would kill me. Gabe was not ‘fun fling’ material. Not at all.
The shower room was immaculate and my heart did another flip when I saw a big and little toothbrush nestled together in a mug above the sink.
‘And last but by no means tidy,’ Gabe knocked on the last door before opening it, ‘my son and heir’s room.’
‘Dad!’ Noah yelled excitedly from beneath a heap of baby clothes. ‘Look. From when I was little. I remember this.’
He still looked little to me. He held up a tiny yellow and grey cot blanket in his chubby fingers. He had dimples along his knuckles, his hair was as unruly as his dad’s and his smile just as infectious.
‘Oh dude.’ Gabe groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. ‘What a mess. I remember it too. Say hello to Rosie.’
‘Hello,’ Noah said dutifully without looking up. ‘Why did I have a dress?’
He pointed to an ivory lace gown on the floor.
Gabe swallowed. He picked it up and stroked it tenderly.
‘This was Mummy’s when she was a baby,’ he murmured. ‘And you wore it for your christening too.’
‘I don’t want the dress,’ said Noah, looking horrified. ‘But I’m keeping the rest.’
Gabe shook his head. ‘There’s no room, mate. You can keep a few things, but not all of it.’
Noah’s face crumpled. ‘Oh but—’
‘Hey, I’ve brought cake,’ I said, holding my hand out to him. ‘Do you want some?’
‘Thanks for the distraction,’ Gabe murmured a few minutes later after I’d pacified Noah with a slice of Juliet’s cake. ‘I want him to be able to hold on to some of the things, especially the ones that belonged to his mum. But it’s just the space issue.’
We were standing in the galley kitchen watching Noah finishing his cake whilst also digging into the box marked ‘G&M wedding’. Gabe handed me a glass of wine and pointed to the box Noah was rifling through.
‘I’m pretty sure Mimi’s wedding dress is in there. I got rid of most of her clothes, but I didn’t … I couldn’t …’
‘What about a memory quilt?’ I said, suddenly remembering something I’d seen on Pinterest. ‘A patchwork quilt made from squares of the fabrics you want to keep.’
Gabe raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. ‘That could work. And as you’ve already seen, I’m quite handy with a sewing machine.’
Noah jumped to his feet, snapped off the TV and stacked his plate in the sink.
‘Thank you,’ he yelled over his shoulder as he ran back to his room.
‘Do you want to help cook the hot dogs?’ Gabe called after him.
‘You can do it,’ said Noah, as if he was doing his dad a favour. ‘But I’ll do the marshmallows.’
Noah’s bedroom door shut firmly. Gabe and I looked at each other, amused.
‘He’s four,’ said Gabe. ‘Imagine how much control I’ll have over him when he’s fourteen.’
I chopped and fried onions while Gabe grilled the sausages and set the table. Within twenty minutes our supper was ready. We chatted while we ate, or rather listened as Noah told me all about his dinosaur collection and what colour his new school uniform was and that he’d really, really like a bed with a slide but the ceiling in his bedroom was too low.
‘Perhaps you could have a slide out of the window straight into the river,’ I suggested with a wink.
Noah’s eyes grew wide. ‘Yeah!’
Gabe gave me a horrified look. ‘You’re supposed to be on my side.’
At which point I went pink and couldn’t help wondering what side of the bed he slept on, or had he simply got used to sleeping in the middle on his own?
‘Do you want more cake, dude?’ Gabe asked. ‘Or are you saving yourself for marshmallows?’
‘Marshmallows. Please may I get down from the table?’ he asked, already scrambling down and heading back to his room.
‘Yes,’ Gabe called. ‘What are you doing in there? You’d better not be making more mess.’
‘It’s a surprise. Don’t come in.’
Gabe clapped a hand over his face and groaned. ‘The words no parent wants to hear. Ever.’
‘Perhaps he’s trying to squeeze himself into that christening dress,’ I laughed.
‘Or maybe he’s making a slide to fit through his window,’ he said, raising an eyebrow.
‘I meant well,’ I said.
‘Yeah. Everyone always does.’ He stared at me for a moment. ‘Fancy getting some fresh air?’
The night air was cool and I shivered as we climbed back out on deck. Gabe handed me a blanket and I took it gratefully, wrapping it round my shoulders. I sipped my wine while he slid two of the boxes as far inside as he could to make more room. Then he jumped on to the jetty and untied the ropes.
‘Ooh,’ I said, snuggling under my blanket. ‘I wasn’t expecting a trip.’
Gabe gave The Neptune a push and jumped back on board before starting the engine.
‘I promised you a dark sky for stargazing, we need to move away from the lights of the hotel for that.’
The gentle chug of the engine was mildly hypnotic as we glided slowly through the water and towards the blackness of the countryside. I felt myself start to relax, cosy under the blanket, while a gentle breeze lifted my hair from my face. After only a few minutes we had completely left civilization behind and the only lights were the ones inside The Neptune. Gabe steered us towards the bank and cut the engine. There was a velvety silence; all I could hear was the faint slapping of the water against the hull of the boat and the distant hoot of an owl.
Gabe climbed on to the bank and I threw him the rope, which he secured around the trunk of a slim tree. He jumped back and ushered me through the boat and out on to the bow where he lit the log burner. Once the fire was blazing, he topped up my glass and we sat side by side watching the flames.
‘Poke me if I go to sleep,’ I said, stifling a yawn. ‘I’m so chilled out.’
‘Whoops. Is that my cue to liven up?’
I choked on my wine, worried I’d offended him, but when I looked at him his eyes were sparkling with humour.
‘Not at all,’ I said, relieved. ‘I’m enjoying myself. The last few weeks have been hectic; an evening like this is just what I needed.’
The moon was the merest sliver in the sky, barely visible over the treetops against a backdrop of midnight blue. At first I only saw a handful of stars but as my eyes became accustomed to the dark, more and more of them popped into view.
‘I love the night sky,’ he murmured after a few moments. ‘Especially when it’s a new moon like this.’
‘Me too,’ I agreed. ‘It puts you in your place, doesn’t it, the sheer majesty of it. We’re just a tiny speck in the universe, so therefore our problems must be microscopic too.’
‘Quite a philosopher under that pretty dress, aren’t you?’ Gabe grinned.
‘Never you mind what I’ve got under my dress.’
I caught his eye and we both laughed and I reminded myself that flirting with Gabe was probably not a good idea.
‘What do you love about the night sky, then?’ I asked, breaking eye contact.
‘Oh, I dunno.’ He shrugged. ‘I guess the sun shows up every bit of a blue sky – it’s just there for you. But at night-time you have to be patient to see it properly, and if you do, you’re rewarded with thousands upon thousands of stars revealing themselves like hidden treasure. I think it’s magic.’
I tilted my head back and stared upwards, letting my eyes adjust to the blackness after the bright orange glow from the log burner.
‘Thanks for inviting me,’ I said softly. ‘And you’re right, it is magical.’
Our eyes met and we smiled at each other, his handsome profile lit by the reflection of the flames and a deep feeling of peace washed over me.
‘It’s a metaphor for life really,’ he continued. ‘The darker the sky, the brighter the stars. Sometimes when Noah asks me about his mum I tell him that she is up there sparkling away, shining a light for us, and she will always be there keeping an eye on us. I say it for his benefit but that thought has pulled me through many a dark night.’
I truly felt for him. To lose the love of your life at such a young age must have been awful. There was that old saying, about it being better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Was falling in love really worth the heartache? My experience so far had told me that it wasn’t but, despite that, deep down I hoped I hadn’t completely given up on love, that maybe one day I’d find the courage to try again.
I nudged his shoulder with mine. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but can I suggest if you ever get to share a romantic moment with a woman under a starry sky, that you don’t mention that your wife is keeping an eye on you from above or you’ll never get your leg over again.’
His eyes crinkled with humour. ‘Thanks for the advice; I’ll bear it in mind. What about you?’
I spluttered on my wine. ‘Me?’
‘Yes, have you got anyone to share romantic moments with?’
‘Oh no,’ I said airily. ‘I don’t really do romantic. I got my fingers burned once. Didn’t like it and have no desire to repeat the experience.’
Gabe topped up my wine and, after a moment, cleared his throat.
‘I’d love to repeat the experience,’ he said. ‘I want to be half of a couple again, to be part of something special, but I don’t know where to start.’
My heart literally ached for him. That had to be one of the sweetest things I’d ever heard a man say.
‘I think you’ve done pretty well. You’ve only been in the village twenty-four hours and you’ve already lured a woman to a dark riverbank and persuaded her to sit next to you under the stars. Not bad for starters.’
‘You’re right,’ he said, perking up. ‘I’m better than I thought.’
‘There you go.’ I clinked my glass against his. ‘You’ve impressed yourself.’
‘I don’t feel impressive.’ He frowned. ‘Sometimes I think I jacked my old life in too easily. I gave up my job – the career that used to make my heart race – the house … everything. I just walked away. I feel like I should have moved on by now.’
I set my glass down and turned to face him, taking his hand in mine.
‘Sometimes moving on has to wait its turn until you’re ready,’ I said firmly. ‘Adjusting to being a single parent and grieving for the person you lost, for the life you lost … that was enough to be dealing with. You did the right thing for you.’
Gabe nodded. ‘That is the best description of my situation that I’ve ever heard.’
My insides pinged with pride and I looked back into his soft grey eyes and smiled. ‘And one day you’ll be ready for your heart to race again. And when that day comes, you’ll know.’
‘Actually,’ he said in a low husky voice, ‘it’s racing now.’
Ditto. His face was so close to mine that I could hear his breathing and his mouth looked so kissable …
Oh God. This was not meant to happen. Gabe was a friend, someone very special to Verity, and not someone who I could afford to have a meaningless fling with. A gentle breeze brushed against my skin making me shiver, and I broke his gaze.
Gabe reached for my hand. ‘Rosie—’
A clatter of footsteps from behind us startled me.
‘Dad? Is the fire hot now? Is it time to do the marshmallows?’
Gabe and I sprang apart as Noah forced himself into the gap between our chairs and I took a deep breath, not sure whether I was happy or sad that Noah had broken the moment.
‘I think so, dude,’ Gabe said with a grin. ‘It certainly feels hot from where I’m sitting.’
You and me both, I thought, pressing a cool hand to my face. You and me both.