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‘You lot are lovely.’
    ‘I think you should have shagged that Ben, though,’ said Josie with a chuckle.
    ‘What?’
    ‘You think we couldn’t hear you? He was begging for it. Absolutely begging.’
    ‘Yes, he was a bit, wasn’t he?’
    She gave me a hefty nudge. ‘I wouldn’t have turned him down, if it were me,’ she said.
    ‘Oi,’ said Malcolm, ‘you old hussy. You’ll end up kipping on the roof if you keep that up.’
    I laughed. ‘He’s not all he’s cracked up to be. Ben, I mean.’
    ‘Ooh,’ said Josie, ‘you’ve been there before, then?’
    ‘Been there, done that.’
    ‘And he’s no good at it? Blimey. Who’d have thought? He looks like a right one to me.’
    I considered this for a moment. This wasn’t a conversation I’d particularly planned to have.
    ‘It’s not that he’s no good,’ I said. ‘It’s just that he’s not the sort of person I want any more.’
    ‘You got your eye on someone else?’ said Joanna.
    ‘Not really. I just think I’m better off on my own for a bit, you know? Busy with the boat, and all that.’
    ‘Ah, the boat,’ said Roger. ‘She’s married to the boat already. Happens to us all. You still haven’t shown me the new room.’
    ‘Help yourself,’ I said. ‘Go and have a look.’
    Malcolm took it upon himself to act as a tour guide, taking Roger to see the newly clad room, while I stayed in the saloon and finished off another bottle of beer. Too many, I thought. The woodstove was burning low and the saloon was warm now that the door to the wheelhouse was closed. We all sat with our feet up, feeling the gentle rock of the boat on the water, lulling us to a doze.
    I realised that I hadn’t thought about Caddy since Ben had started flirting with me. Where was she? Maybe she’d had to work after all.
    ‘We should do this more often,’ Josie said drowsily.
    ‘We always say that,’ said Sally. She was curled like a child into the big, soft sofa, a patchwork blanket I’d bought from a charity shop over her feet.
    ‘I like your boat,’ said Joanna. ‘Did you know that? You have one of the best boats out of all of us.’
    This was a conversation we had regularly – who had the best boat and why. We never seemed to reach a conclusion.
    ‘The Souvenir is my favourite,’ I said.
    Sally laughed. ‘You’re just saying that because you’re sweet and lovely.’
    ‘I like the Souvenir too,’ said Joanna. ‘I think the Souvenir is the best boat at the moment, but if Genevieve manages to pull off the conservatory with the sliding glass roof then the Revenge will be the best one.’
    ‘You’re right,’ said Sally. ‘We can’t top a conservatory. All we’ve got is three pots and an allotment in Rochester.’
    ‘What are you going to grow on your deck, Gen? Have you thought?’
    I was wondering whether this was Josie’s roundabout way of asking me to grow some cannabis for her and Malcolm, but before I had a chance to answer Malcolm and Roger came back.
    ‘You do realise Liam’s asleep on your bed, Genevieve?’
    ‘Shit,’ said Joanna. ‘I wondered where he’d gone. I thought he’d fucked off back to the boat.’
    She got up and went to try and rouse her partner from his beer-induced slumber.
    ‘We should go,’ said Malcolm. ‘Busy day tomorrow.’
    ‘Oh?’ I said. ‘What’s happening?’
    ‘We’re going to look at dresses,’ said Josie. ‘My niece is getting married soon, and Malcolm’s promised to take me shopping.’
    ‘And before you ask,’ said Malcolm, although none of us had said anything, ‘I’m having me hair cut before the wedding, alright?’

Four
     
     
    N ot long after that they all went, off my boat and back on to the pontoon, swaying back to their boats and the warmth of their respective woodburners.
    I stayed in the saloon once I’d shut and locked the wheelhouse, gazing unfocused at the glow of the fire and finishing off my last bottle of beer. I was trying not to think about Ben. I wondered where