Page 13 of An Island in the Sun

‘Morning.’ His voice was gravelly in a just-woken-up sort of way and she suddenly felt rude having disturbed him. ‘What time is it?’

‘Um, just gone eleven…’

‘Ah, sorry,’ he said, tucking his hands beneath his armpits, which showcased his muscled arms, tattoos and six-pack all the more. ‘I was dead to the world.’

Tabitha’s annoyance dissolved. ‘I, um, just wondered if you wanted some, um, brunch…’ And now her guilt had spoken before she’d thought her words through.

‘Yeah,’ he said, looking a little more awake, his eyes trailing her face as if properly taking her in for the first time. ‘But I’ll make it; my treat for disturbing you last night. Just let me shower first.’ He gestured at his state of undress.

‘Sure,’ Tabitha said lamely, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on his face. She walked away thinking that she’d now made the situation even more awkward – for her at least. Raff seemed quite at home.

As she returned downstairs, she silently cursed how fit he was, distractingly so. For the last twelve months, it had been just her. It wasn’t that she hadn’t received any male attention or that no one had caught her eye, she just wasn’t interested, wanting instead to focus on herself and needing the time to heal without the complication of another person, even in the form of a short-lived fling. Raff was very much a complication. Tabitha tried to erase the image of his chiselled chest from her mind.

She opened the bifold doors, letting Bailey and Fudge out and a waft of warm air in, the buzz of a bee and the rustle of grasses the only sound. Fudge barked and started chasing a butterfly unsuccessfully as it spiralled higher to safety.

Tabitha stood on the shadowed patio in front of the pool, watching the dogs but feeling increasingly as if her day was revolving around Raff. Ignoring him wouldn’t make him go away, but it felt simpler to escape with the dogs into the garden. She’d have brunch with him, he would leave and she’d be able to concentrate on work again. Simple. But as she strolled in the shade of the banana plants, Tabitha realised she was annoyed with herself because she was intrigued by Raff.

She wandered to the end of the garden, relishing the sun’s gentle warmth. She stood for a while gazing beyond the rocky coastline at the endless ocean, its presence both calming and unsettling, nothing beyond her but water for hundreds of miles.

Escaping was what she was good at, she reflected as she scuffed her foot on a patch of dry earth. Wasn’t that what she’d been doing for the last year? Running away felt a hell of a lot easier than facing up to and reconciling her feelings.

Misty slunk past, disappearing into the undergrowth to hunt for lizards, while the dogs were happy sniffing about. Tabitha wandered up to the rattan sofa, sat down and breathed in the fresh ocean air.

Elspeth had messaged Tabitha earlier in the morning with a photo of the girls sitting in their glamping wildflower meadow with daisies threaded in their hair. It looked utterly idyllic, as if the picture had been lifted from a glossy magazine, the girls’ cherub faces so perfect and squashable. Tabitha fought back a wave of upset as she thumbed a reply.

You should use this on the website. They’re both so lush. I miss them loads. x

She really did miss them, both her nieces and her sister. Her other siblings too, and her parents, along with the menagerie of extended family that was now filled with husbands, wives, partners and lots of other nieces and nephews. The family seemed to have exploded over the past decade as her older brothers and sisters had started families of their own. Thinking about her family inevitably led her to thinking about the what-ifs with her and Lewis, had things been different. No, not things, if they had both been different. She wasn’t right for him – exactly as he hadn’t been right for her. A relationship equivalent to forcing a square peg into a round hole was doomed from the start. It didn’t mean that she hadn’t loved him, but it did mean she’d made the right decision leaving, even if she was still trying to make herself believe that.

After sitting and contemplating her failed relationship for a good twenty minutes, Tabitha pocketed her phone and wandered slowly back up the garden, her senses alive with the honey-like fragrance of phlox and the pop of colour breaking up the green tones. As she neared the villa, she got a waft of something delicious. The dogs raced ahead, enticed by the smell.

Raff, dressed in jeans and a snug-fitting T-shirt, his hair still damp, emerged from the kitchen into the living room holding two plates.

‘Perfect timing,’ he said, placing the plates on the dining table in front of the open doors. ‘I’ve made us apregosandwich – a Madeiran staple. I hope you’re not vegetarian?’

‘Nope. I eat pretty much anything.’ Tabitha followed his lead, sitting down opposite him, her eyes widening at the sizeable sandwich made from thebolo do cacobread she’d bought, filled with a thin beef steak, lettuce, cheese and tomato.

It was oddly civilised and incredibly unexpected to be sharing breakfast with someone. She hadn’t done this since… well, the last time had been with Lewis. The last thing she’d craved was anyone’s company, but she had to admit, as she took a bite of the sandwich, that it was oddly welcome.

‘This is seriously good,’ Tabitha said, after swallowing a delicious mouthful of tender beef with a kick of garlic.

‘I worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant for a year. I picked up a few things.’

Tabitha frowned. ‘You’re a chef?’

Raff shook his head. ‘No.’

‘Then what do you do?’

He took a bite of his sandwich and sat back in his chair. ‘Lots of things.’

That explained absolutely nothing and only made her wonder more about why he’d rocked up to his parents’ house in the middle of the night without them knowing.

‘Do you know,’ he said, tapping his finger on the Denby plate, ‘my folks always used to reserve the good china for special occasions; now it seems to be their everyday stuff.’

It was hard to ignore the underlying bitterness. Tabitha didn’t comment; the last thing she wanted was to emotionally invest in whatever was going on with him and his parents. Best to ignore, because she certainly didn’t want to pry into Rufus and Cordelia’s lives.

‘If you don’t live on the island, where do you live?’ Tabitha asked instead, while watching him carefully.

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