Page 27 of An Island in the Sun

Tabitha went back to reading her book, yet her mind kept drifting and she had to reread the paragraph she was on several times. For the umpteenth time that day, her head had been hijacked by Raff. He’d only left that morning, and yet, the excitement in the pit of her stomach was testament to how much she wanted to see him again.

The bifold doors were wide open, the only sounds a soothing combination of the breeze sighing through the trees and an occasional distant rumble of a car passing by. It wasn’t hard to miss the sound of a car on the lane thirty minutes later. It stopped and two doors slammed shut. Bailey remained asleep on the rug, but Fudge’s head shot up.

Voices drifted towards the villa – deep and male and filled with laughter.

Fudge jumped down and pattered across the tiles to the terrace, Tabitha right behind him.

Tabitha’s insides swirled as she laid eyes on Raff, a grin etched across his handsome face, his rucksack slung on his back as he appeared around the side of the villa. This time, he wasn’t unexpected… and he wasn’t alone. A second man appeared, not quite as tall but dressed similarly in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, clutching bottles of lager. Tabitha switched her attention from the friend back to Raff.

‘What are you doing here?’ Tabitha wasn’t sure if she should be happy to see him or not, her physical reaction betraying her head as her insides tingled.

Still grinning, Raff shrugged. ‘I didn’t think you’d mind.’

Hmm, that was quite an assumption, particularly when he hadn’t turned up alone. Raff was one thing, but his friend too…

‘And we come with an offering of these.’ He held up a small white box, which she assumed contained the tarts, and in the other hand he waggled a bottle. ‘And this – the nicest wine on Madeira – in my humble opinion.’

Which he’d obviously already been drinking copious amounts of, considering he seemed to be rather tipsy.

‘This is my friend Emilio.’ Raff gestured to the dark-haired guy next to him, then back to her. ‘This is Tabitha. She’s looking after the place while my parents are away.’

‘Olá, Tabitha,’ Emilio said with a thick, most probably drunken accent.

‘Hey there,’ she said, smiling at him before turning her attention to Raff. ‘You didn’t drive here, did you?’

‘Nah, course not. We got a taxi, from the next village. Figured you might want the company. It gets pretty lonely out here…’ He held her gaze for a moment, then walked past her into the villa, a waft of spiced ginger in his wake. With her stomach jangling with nerves, she gestured for Emilio to follow. Part of her was glad to see Raff, but once again he’d taken her by surprise, his friend an unexpected and not entirely welcome addition.

Somehow, after only twelve hours since saying goodbye, Raff was back in her life.

12

On her way back from the bathroom an hour later, Tabitha paused in the doorway of the living room and watched Raff and his mate. Part of her craved this, being around people, letting her hair down and embracing life. It was what she was used to. Actually, no, it was what she used to do before she’d met Lewis. Their relationship had become serious pretty quickly. Encouraged by him, she’d made choices which had impacted her lifestyle but had meant they could spend more time together.

It was obvious that Raff dominated his friendship with Emilio and had done since they’d met during their teens after Raff’s family had moved to the island. Tabitha had noticed Emilio mutter, more than once, ‘Inez is going to kill me’ before downing his drink. Tabitha had discovered that his wife Inez was at home with their seven-month-old son, which accounted for why he and Raff had shown up here after a few drinks out rather than returning to Emilio’s house. Raff was rather presumptuous about her being okay with him and a friend gate-crashing, and yet, once again, she’d done nothing to stop him. Hadn’t there been as much anticipation at the thought of seeing him again as there was worry? She also had the distinct impression that Raff was a bad influence on Emilio.

They’d had a head start drinking and this time Tabitha was aware of not overdoing things and repeating the night before. Ending up in bed again with Raff, regardless of them not having had sex, would not be a smart move. At least they’d had the decency to bring their own booze with them. But even so, she was allowing Raff to take advantage of her good nature. Deep down, she knew it was because she was attracted to him, even if he was intruding on her personal and creative space.

‘What are you doing hiding over there?’ Raff’s voice cut across the beat of Tom Grennan’sLighting Matchesalbum that was playing.

With a resigned sigh, Tabitha left the shadows and joined them.

‘Raff say you write songs?’ Emilio said. ‘You written any I have heard of?’

Tabitha rattled off a list of song titles and the artists she’d co-written with and got a kick out of watching Emilio’s eyes widen.

‘É bué fixe! There are some big names there,’ he exclaimed.

Even Raff looked suitably impressed, Tabitha noted.

‘Yeah, I write freelance for a record label now. I used to write with artists a lot, but since travelling, I’ve been working as a topliner, so mostly working remotely on lyrics and melody. Although in between house sits earlier this year, I spent a few weeks in LA writing with an up-and-coming young pop star who’s been likened to a cross between Pink and Billie Eilish.’

‘But you like working on your own more?’ Raff asked. He was sitting on the sofa, resting his elbows on his knees, a lager in his hand.

‘It’s not really a case of liking it more, I’ve just felt a need to recently.’ She met his eyes, hoping he understood that she didn’t want to explain further. ‘I’m comfortable working by myself, but I also enjoy that collaboration and sparking ideas off someone else. It’s a different process. They’re both good in their own way.’

They talked a little more about Tabitha’s job before the conversation turned back to Raff and Emilio and the music they were into in their teens and the parties Emilio had at his parents’ house when Raff was back from boarding school. After last night, Tabitha went steady on the Madeira wine as she listened. She had a secondpastel de maracuja, which, with its crumbly buttery pastry, smooth sweet custard and the delicious sharpness of the passion fruit, was just too moreish to only have one of.

As the evening wore on, the romantic notion that Raff had come back to spend time with her and explore the feelings that had been evident the night before began to disappear. While she refrained from drinking more than two glasses of wine, Raff and Emilio quickly worked their way through most of the booze they’d brought with them. The conversation was mainly two friends catching up and she felt very much an outsider. It dawned on Tabitha that it wasn’t her Raff was interested in at all, but having a place he could crash and bring friends to. This had been his plan all along, which she’d scuppered by being here.

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