Page 24 of An Island in the Sun

Raff’s T-shirt was discarded on the hallway floor, and her heart dropped when she reached the living room. The doors were wide open, the coffee table and terrace littered with empty bottles of lager, shot glasses and the tequila bottle from Rufus and Cordelia’s drinks’ cupboard. With her heart pounding, Tabitha glanced around, checking that everything was still there. How could she have been so stupid? The dogs could have ended up outside during the night; anything could have happened to them. She’d been completely irresponsible, behaving in a way she’d never done while house sitting.

Fudge and Bailey were padding round her feet, trying to get her attention, spinning round in circles.

‘Yes, yes,’ she muttered. ‘I’m going to feed you now.’

They raced after her to the kitchen. The sunshine pouring through the window was way too bright. She closed the blind, dimming the light a little. She was mightily relieved that the dogs had dried food, yet even the smell sent her racing to the bathroom off the hallway.

As she leaned over the toilet, retching up the acidic contents of last night’s drinking, she wished she’d made different choices. She hadn’t drunk like that for a long time and she was feeling horribly sorry for herself, as well as confused about the feelings Raff had ignited in her. She downed a glass of water, rinsed her mouth with mouthwash she found in the cupboard and grimaced when she caught sight of her washed-out face in the mirror.

After letting Fudge and Bailey out and with Misty curled up on the armchair ignoring Tabitha’s enticement of breakfast, she pulled the bifold doors closed. While the dogs settled in the living room, she stumbled back to the bedroom. She was too tired and groggy to even contemplate staying up. Raff was still fast asleep, so she slipped into bed and turned her back on him, closing her eyes and tucking her hands beneath the pillow.

* * *

Tabitha woke for a second time that morning with a groan. The sun had fully risen, flooding the bedroom with warmth. The pounding in her head had lessened, but she still felt groggy. She stretched and yawned before realising that the other side of the bed was empty.

She shuffled upright, groaned again and swung her legs out of bed. She sat for a moment, her elbows resting on her knees, her head in her hands. The bedroom door was wedged open and Raff’s deep voice floated in. She frowned, confused that there was someone else in the villa before it dawned on her that Raff must be talking on the phone.

Forcing herself to stand, Tabitha rummaged through the chest of drawers for a pair of shorts, pulled them on and wandered down the hall to the living room. Raff was on his mobile, perched on the arm of the sofa looking much fresher than when she’d first laid eyes on him that morning. She noticed he’d also cleared away the empty bottles, although she still needed to tidy up before Cordelia’s cleaner turned up later in the week. She also made a mental note to replace the tequila.

‘Yeah, great, I’ll give you a call later to arrange. See ya.’ He clicked end call and tucked the phone in the back pocket of his jeans. He looked over at Tabitha. ‘Morning.’

‘Morning.’ Her throat was raspy and still felt like sandpaper.

‘I realised you must have been up earlier to feed the dogs. If you want to get a shower, I’ll make breakfast – figure we could both do with a pick-me-up.’

Tabitha was relieved he was acting normally with no obvious awkwardness, although she was happy to escape back to her room for a much-needed shower. The hot water pummelled Tabitha awake, giving her a sense of washing away the excesses of the night before. Not that she could remember anything after kissing Raff in the hallway. That was the bit of the night she wanted to piece together. Surely she would remember if they’d done more than just kiss?

She stepped from the shower smelling much sweeter and wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel. It felt rather domestic, Raff making breakfast again, as if they were a couple… Her heart skipped as she glanced in the bin next to the dressing table. No condom or empty packet. Was that a good or bad thing? Muddled emotions surged through her as she got dried and dressed in relaxed cargo trousers and a fitted white T-shirt. These feelings were partly the reason she’d escaped from everything she’d been dealing with back home.

Rather than it turning her stomach, the smell of something sweet frying made her mouth water as she walked towards the kitchen. She wasn’t much of a cook and having lived by herself for the last year, it was a novelty having someone else cook for her.

Tabitha leaned against the open kitchen door and watched Raff looking at ease as he shook the contents of the frying pan while humming a tune under his breath. She couldn’t help but smile.

He caught sight of her and stopped humming. ‘Coffee’s on if you want to grab a couple of mugs.’

The smell of the coffee was even better as she poured it and took the mugs out to the patio table. The sunshine made her squint and her head began to pound again, but the gentle warmth and a whisper of breeze was a tonic.

Raff joined her and placed two plates on the table. ‘French toast to kick our hangovers to the kerb.’

Neither of them hesitated, tucking in greedily.

‘This is so good,’ Tabitha mumbled with a mouth full of the sweet and delicious eggy bread drizzled with maple syrup and topped with juicy blueberries, tart passion fruit and sweet chunks of banana.

Raff nodded in agreement and they continued eating in silence, with the dogs padding around the patio and a blackbird hopping on the grass.

As she polished off her breakfast, Tabitha felt less hungover and more like herself. She clasped her hands around her mug of coffee and looked across the table at Raff. She didn’t want to have to ask the question, but she didn’t want the uncertainty any longer.

‘About last night. I take it we didn’t, um… you know.’

‘Have sex?’ Raff laughed. ‘I could barely stand, let alone do anything else, plus you were too far gone to even begin to know what you were saying yes to.’

Huh. Tabitha was impressed. Despite breaking in and confusing the hell out of her, he was seemingly a gentleman. He was right too; with only a hazy recollection of the night before, she’d been too drunk to fully know what she was doing and he hadn’t taken advantage of that. If he had, she was pretty certain that she wouldn’t have been able to say no, even if she’d wanted to. Although, last night, saying no was the last thing on her mind. And it sounded as though Raff had wanted to, if the circumstances had been different.

What she was most impressed by, though, was how unfazed he was about the situation. And she would have been too, a long time ago. She’d spent years as part of a couple. It had been a long time since she’d been intimate with anyone. It had been a long time since she’d had this much fun with anyone, which made what she was about to say all the harder.

‘About you staying…’ she said tentatively.

He waved his hand and downed the remainder of his coffee. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve arranged to meet a friend; I’ll sort something out.’

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