‘How was this going to work? You were just going to pack your stuff and leave and not say anything?’ His voice was rising.

‘No.’ She’d not actually thought about it in any detail. ‘I was offered the job unexpectedly.’

‘Unexpectedly. You didn’t have an interview?’ People were beginning to stop their conversations and tune in to the argument.

Ros thought back to the nice chat over lunch. ‘It was quite informal.’

‘So you did have an interview but you didn’t say anything. You kept it a secret.’ Cameron pushed his hand through his thick hair, unsettling it. ‘Jeez, have you been planning this for ages? I thought we . . .’ There was a look from him that she wished she could interpret. ‘But then, it’s nothing to you is it? All this. You and me.’ He pointed between the two of them.

‘Cameron. Am I missing something? Because I understand you have plans to get engaged.’ There was a whoop of joy nearby. ‘Not to me,’ she clarified for whoever had got excited and also for the photographer who was zooming in for a close-up. She realised everyone was now silent and all eyes were on them. This was very bad indeed.

‘What’s going on?’ Darla marched up.

‘Ros is going to Dubai indefinitely,’ said Cameron.

‘It’s not indefinitely; it’s undecided until I’ve assessed the level of work involved there before I’ll likely move on . . .’ she was now acutely aware of the attention ‘. . . to um, Saudi Arabia.’

‘Arabia?!’ Darla was almost shouting. ‘I don’t even know where that is. You promised me you’d help me to get my business off the ground. You said you’d be my business adviser. What the hell, Ros?’

‘I’m sorry. I was going to speak to both of you.’ She looked at the assembled faces. Including her father and mother whose attention was also firmly fixed on her. ‘All of you,’ she corrected.

‘I guess you leaving neatly draws this relationship to a close then,’ said Cameron. ‘No discussion. No working things out so it’s best for everyone. You went for the unilateral decision and as usual went for what suits Ros and sod everyone else.’ His jaw was tense. She’d not seen him this cross before.

‘I didn’t know what the best thing to do was,’ she said, aware that her voice was little more than a whisper.

A hearing aid nearby whistled. ‘Can you speak up?’ someone called.

‘You think this is for the best? Running away to Dubai without a word. No discussion. Not even a Post-it Note on the counter. Bloody hell, Ros. I guess that makes this easy then. We’re done!’

Someone gasped as Cameron awkwardly tried to exit through the mass of people. Only to get to the exit and discover that they were now some hundred metres offshore and surrounded by sea.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ros was shaken and her pulse was thumping in her ears. She watched Cameron pace up and down and for a moment feared he was going to launch himself overboard in his desire to get away from her. But instead he went below deck and Ros took a deep breath. She needed to think.

Darla came over and steered her off to one side. ‘That was excellent, but I wish you’d tipped me off. For a moment I thought it was real.’

‘What?’

‘The big public row,’ whispered Darla, checking over her shoulders like a rubbish spy. ‘The whole staged break-up. Genius.’

‘That wasn’t staged,’ said Ros. ‘That was a real argument.’

Darla took a moment to process what Ros was telling her. ‘Then you are actually taking a job halfway across the world?’

Ros wobbled her head. ‘It’s not signed and sealed yet but—’

‘What the actual—’ Thankfully Darla’s next word was drowned out by the boat’s horn, which also drew people’s attention back to them leaving the marina and got them waving to any random person walking by, which Ros was hugely grateful for. ‘I said what did you think you were doing not telling me?’ snapped Darla.

She’d not seen her angry before. It seemed to be the night for annoying agreeable people.

‘I was going to tell you. It’s all moved very fast and I think quite a few assumptions have been made, because I’ve not signed—’

‘Assumptions! You clearly assumed we’d all be okay with you buggering off. You promised you’d be here for me and my business. I don’t know what I’m doing but I thought it would be okay because you were going to help me. I’m really scared of messing this up and ending up bankrupt.’ Tears were welling in Darla’s eyes and her voice was getting squeaky with emotion.

‘I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anyone. I thought it was for the best. A clean break. Get away from the whole thing.’

‘So it was all about what was best for you. No thought for anyone else. Not even for your dad who maybe would like to spend some time with you now he knows he has some time left?’ She shook her head, her jaw tight. ‘I thought you’d changed. But that’s never going to happen.’

Darla dashed across the flybridge, down the staircase and then came to the same conclusion as Cameron. ‘How the hell do you get off this thing?’

‘You can’t, not for another three hours,’ said one of the crew as he skirted past.

Ros managed to take a breath before her dad came over. She held up her hands. ‘I know. I get it. I’ve done the wrong thing.’

Barry shook his head. ‘I’ve not come to have a go at you.’

‘Thank you.’ It was a huge relief.

‘Only you’re a fool if you’re going to let Cameron go. He’s the best thing to happen to you in years.’

Ros opened her mouth but before she could say anything Uncle Pete was waving Barry over for a photograph. Ros was left standing on one side of the flybridge with the wind in her hair and the ocean ahead of her. The promise of a beautiful sunset tickled the horizon. She’d never felt so dejected and alone in her life.

What was meant to be a happy evening had quickly turned into the night from hell, for her at least, but thankfully Barry seemed to be enjoying himself. Everyone was giving Ros the cold shoulder. Ironically as the breeze picked up people left the flybridge for the more sheltered deck below, leaving Ros alone with her thoughts and chilly shoulders.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her mother ascending the staircase. That was all she needed. She returned to looking out to sea and the twinkling lights of the Isle of Wight in the hope Amanda would get the message.

‘I know I’m probably not who you want to talk to, but seeing as nobody else was offering I thought I should,’ said her mother.

‘It’s fine. Don’t feel obliged.’

‘Oh I don’t. I can see both sides of the issue. And I believe you have been treated somewhat harshly.’

‘Thank you,’ said Ros tentatively. Amanda was the last person who she would have expected to be on her side.

Her mother leaned her back against the rail and looked at Ros. ‘I did what you’re doing.’

‘Getting cold?’

Amanda ignored the quip. ‘I put my career before everything. I thought it defined me and if I took my foot off the pedal for a moment I would slip quickly down the corporate ladder and be lost in the sea of forgotten part-time mothers.’

She really painted a picture. ‘Are you admitting it was wrong to leave me and Dad?’

‘I’m saying I felt it was too much of a compromise to be a mother and a quantitative analyst. I feared trying to do both to a high standard would ultimately mean I would fail at one or both of them. Making a choice seemed like the only sensible option.’

‘Great. That does not make me feel any better.’

‘Your father and I discussed it before we had you. He was desperate for a child but I had a number of concerns. The whole mothering thing somewhat baffled me and still does. I knew I could do the basics and keep you alive—’