Read Online Revenge of the Tide by Elizabeth Haynes - Free Book Online

journalists, while next to my boat they lifted her out of the mud and on to the pontoon. She was tiny, Caddy, probably weighed no more than seven stone, but it took eight of them to lift her up.
    ‘It’ll be strange, going back to a nine-to-five after this, won’t it?’ he asked. His voice was jovial, a little forced. I think he was trying to distract me.
    ‘It will. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it. But the money will run out soon enough.’
    ‘Does this thing work? I mean – does it go anywhere?’
    ‘It could do, I guess. I’ve never tried the engine but it does have one. That part of it is beyond my technical capability at the moment.’
    ‘You should take it on a journey, before the money runs out.’
    ‘Maybe I should.’
    There was an awkward pause. I wanted to ask about him about his job, what it was like. I wanted to ask if he was married, what he did when he wasn’t working. But none of it would come out. It sounded wrong, to be asking such things, given what was happening outside.
    ‘Would you like a drink, Mr Carling?’ I asked at last. ‘Coffee?’
    He smiled, a warm smile. ‘That would be great. Thank you. And call me Jim.’
    ‘Jim. Alright, then.’ I pushed the blanket to one side and went to the galley, filling the kettle from the sink and putting it on the gas burner. At least I’d managed to clean the kitchen this morning. If he was going to spend time on my boat, he might as well see it at its best.
    ‘It’s an odd name for a boat,’ he said. ‘In the circumstances.’
    ‘I guess so. It was already called that when I bought it. Apparently it’s bad luck to change the name.’
    I turned from the galley and caught him looking at my legs. He blushed, just a little. Poor man. I should really put some jeans on.
    ‘I couldn’t be having much worse luck, really, could I?’ I said.
    ‘I guess it’s not really luck. Your boat is the closest to the river; if it was going to wash up anywhere it would be here.’
    I wondered at what point Caddy had changed from a ‘she’ into an ‘it’. The thought of it made me want to cry.
    Carling stood.
    ‘I think,’ he said, ‘I would really like to look at the rest of the boat. You don’t mind?’
    ‘Go ahead,’ I said.
    From here I could see down the corridor to the end, to the hatch leading to the storage area at the bow. He wouldn’t go in there. If he did, I told myself, he would just see boxes, carpentry tools, tubs of emulsion and paintbrushes. But he wouldn’t go in there. Not with his suit on, at any rate.
    He stopped at my bedroom and looked inside. ‘I like the skylight,’ he called.
    ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘It’s nice to wake up to. I like it when it’s raining.’
    He said something else, but the kettle was starting to whistle on the stove and I missed it. I poured water in the coffee mugs and left them, and went to find him.
    He was in my bedroom, looking up at the skylight.
    ‘I didn’t hear what you said, I’m sorry.’
    He started a little and turned. ‘Oh, I just said… it’s cosy.’
    We stood for a minute facing each other. My jeans were on the floor by his feet, the duvet a tangle on the bed.
    ‘I should… um… put my clothes on.’
    ‘Oh, yes. Sure. Sorry.’
    ‘You could finish off making the coffee, if you like.’
    His cheeks were pink. He squeezed past me and went back to the galley, while I pulled my jeans back on and found a thin jumper, one that didn’t make me look like an ancient mariner.
    ‘I wouldn’t go in the bathroom,’ I said as I went back to the galley. ‘Toilet needs emptying.’
    ‘You have to empty the toilet?’ he said, handing me a mug.
    ‘Yes. You get used to it. When I do the bathroom up I’m going to put one in with a bigger cassette, then I won’t need to empty it so often. Or maybe a composter.’
    ‘It’s starting to sound a bit less idyllic,’ he said.
    ‘I’m not looking forward to the winter, to be honest. It gets really windy here.’
    A mobile phone