to force herself to peer out of the darkness, step by painful step. She might never have dared, without the motivation of the Wave Watchers project. It had replaced Nate in her life. She was its rock and it was hers.
But was it enough?
She returned to the task in hand: showing Tiff how to look out for potential trouble, which was a far easier job than delving into her deepest hopes and fears.
‘Look, I can just make out some divers in the water by the island,’ she said. ‘We make a note of when they descend and keep an eye out to make sure they resurface by the dive boat and not too far away. Can you see if you can spot them through the binoculars?’
‘Hang on … these take a bit of getting used to.’
Marina chuckled to herself while Tiff tried to adjust the sights. She was sure that she hadn’t expected to have to actually do anything in the lookout station, but Marina had other intentions. If her cousin was going to stay for the next few months and was keen to help out, the most useful thing she could do was volunteer.
Marina wouldn’t push her too hard, of course, but she thought it would be a good way for Tiff to make new friends, to distract her from the turmoil of the past few months. Marina recognised a woman hiding a deeper pain under a veneer and, whilst Tiff’s veneer was thicker than most, she was still pretty sure there was more to her cousin’s escape to Porthmellow than she’d so far let on.
‘Got them?’ she said, thinking that Tiff had gone quiet. ‘I think you’re looking in the wrong place …’
‘I can’t see the divers, I have to be honest, but I have spotted something else that might be of interest.’
‘What?’
‘See for yourself.’ Tiff straightened up and nodded at the binoculars with an arched eyebrow. ‘About a hundred metres out from the shore, halfway to the dive boat.’
Marina looked. She quickly located the safety buoy attached to the divers and followed a line from their RIB towards the beach. A few seconds later she saw a man swimming out to sea. She could tell he had no wetsuit on, only a pair of red swimming trunks.
‘Did you mean the guy swimming?’ she said, still tracking the man’s progress. His front crawl was measured and steady, his feet creating tiny splashes as the swell lifted him up and down.
‘Yes. Where’s he going?’ Tiff asked.
‘Mmm. I don’t honestly know. Occasionally people try to swim round to the next cove to see the seals – which is a dangerous idea anyway – but he’s heading right out to sea.’
‘You don’t think he’s going to do anything stupid? It must be freezing in there.’
‘A balmy eight degrees, actually. I don’t know what he’s doing but it does seem strange. I suppose he could be training for a triathlon …’
‘Maybe he thinks he’s Poldark?’ Tiff offered. ‘Or a merman?’
‘He’s certainly something unusual,’ Marina said, watching the swimmer growing smaller and smaller as he swam further from the shore.
‘Should we put him in the log?’ Tiff offered. ‘I can do that.’
‘Yes, please. We’d better keep a close eye on him for now too.’
‘Surely he’ll have to turn back soon?’
‘You’d hope so.’ Marina wasn’t sure. The man was ploughing through the waves, and was now almost as far out as the dive boat, but a hundred metres to the west of it so he obviously had no intention of boarding.
She watched him for a few more minutes. He didn’t seem in difficulty but he was alone. She was debating whether to call his presence in to the coastguard, when she lost sight of him momentarily. Her heart was in her mouth for a second but she quickly spotted him again. To her relief, he had turned around and was heading determinedly back towards the cove.
Very relieved, she took her eyes from the scope.
‘Should we call someone?’ Tiff asked.
‘I was about to report it to the coastguard but he’s coming back in.’ She hesitated. ‘I still think I might nip down and have a word with him.’
Tiff raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that part of the job?’
‘Not strictly speaking, but occasionally I do warn people. I don’t want to be a killjoy but …’
‘Better to be safe than sorry?’ Tiff smiled then her face fell. ‘Hey. That means I’ll be up here on my own!’
‘Only for a few minutes. You can contact me by radio