randa. Listening to the sound of the sea, the waves measuring time as she waited for him. Then she saw him, at the other end of the veranda.
His shadowy figure, walking towards her, made her catch her breath. Ben sat down at the other end of the settle, stretching his legs out in front of him. It felt as if he was coming home to her.
‘Jonas is asleep?’
He nodded. ‘He’s very excited about going fishing again tomorrow. But he settled down in the end.’
‘And Lizzie? What does she think about you disappearing for a second night?’
She heard his quiet laugh in the darkness. ‘Lizzie and I have an understanding. I didn’t play the concerned older brother when she was first dating, and she doesn’t give me the concerned little sister act now. We have our own lives.’
‘And this is dating?’
He thought for a moment. ‘Not sure. What do you reckon?’
‘I’m not sure either. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.’
Whatever it was, it was fine for Arianna to move towards him, snuggling up against him. He put his arm around her shoulders and they sat in silence, the hurricane lamp on the table flickering feebly, a small pool of light in the darkness.
‘So do you? Date.’ Arianna tried to make the question sound casual.
‘Nope. I have enough on my hands with a job and a child.’ Ben laughed quietly. ‘That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.’
He could have found the time. Arianna knew other single parents who managed to hold down a job and a relationship. But Ben just didn’t want to. He was manacled, by his own feelings of guilt and the feeling that he could never again be the person he’d wanted to be.
‘Do you? Date,’ he asked.
‘I have enough on my hands, building up a practice. That’s my excuse.’
‘And what’s the real story? I’ve told you mine.’
‘I was engaged once. It didn’t work out.’ Even that had lost its sting. Somehow, when Ben was around everything else really didn’t matter so much. ‘I met him at one of my father’s parties in London.’
‘One of the suitors he had lined up for you?’
‘Yes.’ Arianna could laugh about it now. ‘It was a bit like speed dating. Fifteen minutes apiece, and then I got whisked off to the next one.’
Ben chuckled. ‘Did they have to form an orderly queue?’
‘No, nothing like that. My father’s secretary used to be there though; she’s always at his parties to oversee things and she’s ferociously efficient. I dare say she had a carefully disguised plan, that didn’t look like a plan at all.’
‘They’re the worst. If you’re going to have a plan, the least you can do is let everyone else in on it. So how did it feel to have all those guys lined up for your appraisal?’
It had always felt to Arianna that it was the other way round, that she was the one on show. Ben put a different perspective on a lot of things.
‘When I met Lawrence the first thing he suggested was that we sneak away somewhere, so that we didn’t have to be polite and talk to everyone in the room. I liked that about him immediately. He pinched a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses and we climbed the railings in the square opposite my father’s house. I tore my dress.’
‘That sounds very romantic.’ It was difficult to know whether Ben was teasing her or not. It was just his way—laid-back and without attaching any judgements.
‘It seemed so at the time. Lawrence didn’t much care about rules; he’d just do whatever seemed right at the time.’
‘I can’t disagree with that approach to life.’
Arianna dug her fingers into his ribs. ‘You’re quite different. Lawrence always took the easy way out.’
‘Trust me. When Jonas makes his mind up about something, the easy way out seems like a very good option.’ Ben chuckled.
‘That’s different. I’ve always had nightmares from time to time, and Lawrence just used to tell me to get a grip. He didn’t see why I’d want to work as a doctor when I didn’t have to. My father didn’t much like him, but that was the one thing they did see eye to eye about.’