Page 11 of An Island in the Sun

‘But why are you here when they’re away? They certainly didn’t mention anything about you.’

Tabitha noticed his jaw clench as if she’d hit a nerve.

‘I don’t see them often,’ he muttered.

Or speak to them apparently, Tabitha thought. She shook her head. ‘How do I even know you’re telling the truth?’

He pulled a set of keys from the back pocket of his jeans and dangled them in front of her. ‘I didn’t break in for starters.’

‘That doesn’t prove anything. You could have stolen them.’

Shooting her a withering look, he crossed the living room to the shelving unit along the back wall. He riffled through one of the drawers and pulled out a photo album. He paced back to the sofa, put the album on the table and flicked through it almost to the end. Turning it around, he jabbed a finger at a tall, dark-haired lad of about eighteen. ‘There,’ he said. ‘Me.’

Tabitha moved closer and squinted, trying to work out if the lad in the picture resembled the thirty-something man in front of her.

‘How long ago was that taken?’ she asked.

‘You need more proof?’ He seemed annoyed and flustered now, which was very much how Tabitha was feeling standing at gone midnight with a total stranger in the house she was looking after. He closed the album. ‘My mother, Cordelia, will have definitely been wearing pink nail varnish and too much jewellery. My father, Rufus, has got such a tan that it looks fake and he will certainly have bored you to death about golf. They will also have been rude about the neighbours and told you never to feed the dogs anything other than their usual food. Am I right?’

There was a look of defiance on his face and she had to admit he’d got Rufus and Cordelia spot on. The more she looked at him, the more she realised there was a family resemblance too. Cordelia and Rufus were a good-looking couple and Raff certainly shared their good genes. However bizarre the situation, Tabitha realised that she was going to have to accept that he was their son.

‘Why are there no family photos out?’ she asked, not wanting to fully agree he was who he said he was.

‘Because my parents like the uncluttered look and we’re not exactly a big happy family.’

Tabitha thought of the clutter in her parents’ house. For years, they’d lived all over the place, but photos would always be one of the first things to be unpacked. And where they lived now, finally retired and settled in a cottage in Devon, there wasn’t a room without a picture of Tabitha and her siblings in it, and every weekend at least one of her brothers or sisters, plus their children, would visit.

‘What I don’t get, though, is why you’re even here, if you knew your parents weren’t?’

He remained silent for a moment, his defiance morphing into discomfort. ‘Because I was planning on crashing here while they were away.’

‘So you really were sneaking in?’

‘Yeah, except I wasn’t expecting, well, you.’

‘Well, I’m sorry, but here I am.’

Tabitha had remained standing, while Raff was sitting with Fudge snuggled against him. They both eyed each other. This was certainly one of the strangest situations Tabitha had found herself in while house sitting. She’d had to take a cat to the vets during one house sit and dealt with a leaking pipe during another, but she’d never been confronted by an intruder, which Raff technically was, even if he was Rufus and Cordelia’s son.

‘Look, it’s late…’ Raff finally broke their silence.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow. ‘I know it is.’

‘Yeah, sorry about that. Honestly, I didn’t think there’d be anyone here. But it is late,’ he stressed again, ‘and I’ve got nowhere to go tonight, so if I can just stay in the spare room I’ll be out of your way in the morning.’

Tabitha rubbed her fingers across her forehead, weighing up how bad an idea it was. ‘How about I phone your parents first…’

Raff reached out, as if to touch her arm, but stopped himself. ‘Please don’t. I honestly didn’t mean to cause any trouble, but you phoning them will cause me a shitload, so I’m begging you.’

Tabitha didn’t understand what on earth was going on, but his pleading eyes and serious expression spoke volumes. She always noticed how animals were around people and Fudge seemed filled with nothing but love for him. She glanced at Fudge now, with his head on his paws resting on Raff’s thigh, which filled his jeans in a considerably attractive way.

Raff caught her looking and smiled. ‘What can I say.’ He smoothed his hand over Fudge’s head.

Fudge was obviously happy in his company. She knew she shouldn’t let a Cavalier, the soppiest, least guard-dog-like of canines, sway her, but the one thing she felt she could put her trust in was an animal. Didn’t they have some kind of sixth sense when it came to danger? Above all, she was tired and wanted this bizarre stand-off to be over. Her only other option was to kick him out in the middle of the night. Even though he was in the wrong and she shouldn’t be worried about him, she couldn’t do that.

‘Fine,’ Tabitha said, with a resigned sigh, ‘you can stay, but you leave first thing in the morning.’

‘Thank you.’

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