His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,107

a siren. All that mattered was that Jude broke his own, scaling a mental wall as steep as the headland between Porthperrin and its lost beach. He clambered, imagining Rob there at the top with a hand extended, ready, as ever, to help him. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have Rob.” His eyes welled as he added another honest statement. “I don’t want him to leave the Anchor.”

Maybe words from his dad weren’t all that Jude needed, right then. His dad’s touch—grip on his hand tightening until Jude looked at him—was as welcome.

Jude saw past his deep tan and abrasions, beyond cheekbones the last few months had chiselled and stared into eyes he’d spent years avoiding. They were clear and focussed on him. “Does he have to, son?” Jude shrugged, and his dad seemed to draw in the same kind of deep breath that Jude had moments before, and exhale the same courage. “Do you love him?” His gaze wavered when Jude nodded, flicking towards his wife who loved him enough to take Jude’s place on their voyage, and then to his daughter, who’d fought to save their family business. Something he saw in them both seemed to help him find an answer. “Then ask him to stay long enough that I get to meet him.”

It took weeks to get home, and not because Jude had to sail back to Cornwall. This time, the delay was due to making sure that his parents took time to recover, each day filled with moments he knew he was lucky to witness, along with others that were much harder to accept.

“You needed someone to declare that we were dead,” his mum said, matter-of-fact, during one long discussion that took place aboard the Aphrodite, a safe place away from the prying eyes of the press who stalked them, desperate for all the gory details of their survival story. “That’s why you kept looking.”

His dad cut to the chase, something he did much more often lately. “You kept looking because you felt bad about your mum taking your place. Guilty, when you should have been my sailing partner. Ashamed, maybe.” He never avoided subjects these days, even if they provoked past discomfort. “Shame is an awful motivator,” he admitted after another long phone call with Trevor. “You have to know I’d do things differently if I could. Speak up for Trevor, like I first wanted, and for you, if I could turn back the clock.”

Jude did know. He studied the face of his watch as they finally flew back to England, thinking that some second chances only happened when you reached out. He’d done that via email, followed by a phone call to London before they boarded their flight home. They arrived to find a Range Rover waiting to carry them back to Cornwall in comfort, but the driver looked worried. “Are you sure?” Rob’s dad asked after making sure his passengers were safely aboard. “Are you certain he’ll want to see me?” His frown as he loaded their bags was so familiar. He shut the boot and faced Jude. “We didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye when he worked for me.”

“Yes, he’ll want to see you,” Jude told his boyfriend’s father. “And not seeing eye-to-eye is normal, but silence won’t make anything better.”

“I’ve been trying, I sent him a card. Thought he might respond to that, at least. I call as well, but he doesn’t pick up.”

“He wants to.” Jude peered through the Range Rover window to see his dad watching. “Sometimes it’s hard to know how to start talking, but if Dad and I can do it, I think you two will figure it out as well. Just promise me that you didn’t send that reviewer to scupper us before we’d started.”

“No! Jesus, is that what Rob thinks? No wonder he won’t take my calls.”

“Phone calls won’t fix it,” Jude promised, aware, so aware, that face-to-face was where it mattered. “Besides, it’s time you saw what Rob made happen.”

Jude felt as if he held his breath all the way along the M4 and M5, only starting to breathe with ease when they hit the A30, the last miles whipping past in a blur of gorse and slate rooftops. Landmarks barely registered until Rob’s dad took the turning off the main road that led to the village. They stopped at the top of the hill for a few minutes, and Jude drove the last half mile home, his dad seated beside him,