Stepping into the Prince's World by Marion Lennox

out sightseeing.’ She hesitated. ‘You’re thinking of rescue. Are you sure your friends won’t realise you were on a boat and be searching?’
    â€˜I’m sure,’ he said grimly. ‘There were reasons I wanted to be alone. I seem to have succeeded better than I imagined.’
    â€˜Hey,’ she said, and she touched his shoulder lightly, a feather touch. ‘Not completely,’ she said. ‘You’re stuck with Rocky and me. Want to come to the beach?’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜To see if anything’s been washed in from your boat.’
    â€˜You need to rest.’
    â€˜I’ve had four months of resting,’ she retorted. ‘Come on, soldier—or can’t those bootees make it?’
    He was wearing Don’s sheepskin bootees. He stared down at his feet and then stared at Claire.
    She smiled her most encouraging smile and turned towards the cliff path. Maybe she should be resting, she thought, but there was a reason she was pushing him to come with her.
    While Raoul had been in charge—while there’d been things to do—Raoul’s smile had been constant. He’d buoyed her mood. He’d given her courage. But now, standing in the ruins of the only way to get messages to and from the island, his smile had disappeared. She’d heard bleakness and self-blame in his voice.
    He’d helped her, so the least she could do was help him back. Maybe she should dislocate the other shoulder. She grinned, and he caught up with her and glanced across and saw the grin.
    â€˜What? What do you have to laugh about?’
    â€˜You,’ she said. ‘I might need to put a training regime in place if you’re not to get miserable. You’re stuck here for at least five days...’
    â€˜I can’t stay for five days.’
    â€˜Five days until the supply boat’s due,’ she said inexorably. ‘But Marigold has a whole library of romance novels, and Don has fishing magazines, so cheer up. Meanwhile, let’s go see if anything’s left of your boat.’
    * * *
    Rosebud was an ex-boat.
    The last time he’d seen Tom’s boat she’d been upturned in the surf. Now she was nothing more than a pile of splintered debris on the storm-washed beach.
    The radio shack and Rosebud had held his only links to the mainland and both were smashed. He looked out at the still churning sea and knew he had a lot to be thankful for—but at what cost?
    â€˜Will your friend be very upset?’ Claire asked in a small voice.
    He thought of Tom, and thought of the new boat he could buy him, and he thought Tom would give him heaps of flak and enjoy buying a new boat very much.
    â€˜I guess,’ he said.
    â€˜Is it insured?’
    He hadn’t even thought of insurance. ‘Probably. I don’t know.’
    â€˜Will you have to cover the cost? Oh, Raoul...’
    And she slipped her hand into his with such easy sympathy that it was impossible for him to say, No, it’s okay, the cost of this yacht is hardly a drop in the ocean of my fortune.
    Why would he say that when she was holding his hand and looking up at him with concern?
    Um...because otherwise it was dishonest?
    Maybe it was, he thought, but she held his hand and he liked it, and he thought if he was to be stuck here for days then he wouldn’t mind being treated as an equal.
    Time enough to be treated as a royal when he got home.
    And the thought struck again. His grandparents... They’d have heard by now. They’d be grief-stricken, appalled and terrified.
    Something must have shown on his face, because the hold on his hand tightened.
    â€˜It’s okay, Raoul,’ she said softly. ‘You can’t help any of this.’
    â€˜I could have.’
    â€˜Yeah, but that’s in the past. You can’t do a thing about that now. Focus on the future.’
    â€˜Like you have? Should I go find me a rock to sit on for six