Page 9 of Dead in the Water

He had warned her it was a depressing story, but his words still brought tears to prick the back of Lily’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s a year since she died. Now I own a boat with two other couples who are keen to go off on all the trips we’d originally planned, and I’ve lost all enthusiasm for any of it.”

“That’s understandable.”

“They’ve been patient with me, but I know they’re secretly champing at the bit, waiting for me to get over it and move on. Ifeel guilty for holding them back, but I really can’t summon any motivation.”

“Couldn’t they go without you?”

“None of them are experienced boat people. They love the idea of sailing, but none of them feel confident to sail long distances – even though it’s a motor yacht and not a sailing yacht.”

“That must make things difficult,” Lily murmured.

“My wife was into sailing. It always feels more comfortable having someone else with knowledge when you’re out on the water.”

“That makes sense.”

He dipped his head to stare at his hands in his lap. “I finally agreed we’d do a trip around the Mediterranean. An acquaintance of mine from the sailing club agreed to come with us. He’d help with the sailing in return for a free trip. Everyone had met him before and it seemed like a good idea.”

Lily frowned, confused. “Are you on your way back from that trip?”

“No. This was the start of it. Except, almost as soon as we left, I knew I couldn’t face the trip. We planned on being away for six weeks. Leaving St Ives felt like I was getting even further from Lisa – my wife. Which is daft, I know, but that’s how it feels.”

“I don’t think it’s daft.” Lily smiled sadly. “So you’re going home?”

“Much to everyone’s annoyance, yes.”

“Could you fly home and they go on without you?”

“We talked about it, but almost as soon as I told them I didn’t want to continue with the trip, they suggested Russell buy out my share of the boat.”

“But you don’t want to sell?”

“I do. When they suggested it, I felt this tremendous sense of relief. I don’t want to sail the world without Lisa. I want to be athome, spending time with my son and my grandson.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “The problem is that I suspect they’d already been plotting for Russell to buy me out. I’d pondered the idea of selling, but knew it would be difficult to find someone interested in a third share of a yacht. No one wants to own a yacht with people they don’t know.”

“I imagine that would be hard. But selling to this Russell guy seems like a good solution.”

He nodded. “Except Russell knows it would be difficult to find a buyer, so he offered me less than it’s worth. I know he’s not short of money, so it feels as though he’s trying to take advantage. On principle, I don’t want to give in to him.”

“I don’t blame you.”

He lifted his eyebrows as he smiled. “The others think I’m being unreasonable, but I said we need to sail back home tomorrow unless he can change his offer on the boat. I thought that might be a good way of putting a bit of pressure on him, but so far he hasn’t budged.”

“So you’ll sail home tomorrow?”

“First thing. Then they either need to encourage Russell to increase his offer, or we’ll have to sell the boat. It doesn’t matter to me either way.” His smile softened his features. “I told you it was a depressing story.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way they should have.”

“That’s life, isn’t it? You can make all the plans you want, but some things are beyond our control.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve just been wittering away, telling you all my problems. I’m Joseph, by the way.”

“Lily,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. I promise I’m not usually so gloomy.” He stood and smiled. “On a more cheerful note, this time tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be playing trains with my grandson.”

“How old is he?”

“Five. He’s quite the character. A proper little chatterbox. His favourite thing to do at the moment is play with the train set I bought him for Christmas.”

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