Page 42 of An Island in the Sun

‘He’s not bad.’ Tabitha decided to underplay his hotness.

Elspeth squealed. ‘You like him!’

Tabitha could tell from Elspeth’s tone that she was grinning.

‘No! It’s nothing like that.’ Tabitha bit her lip and gazed down the dark garden to the faint glow of the office. The memory of their drunken kiss was still fresh despite the haziness of what had apparently not happened afterwards. The memory of waking with a banging headache to the sight of Raff lying next to her in just his jeans, his ripped chest on show, was pretty much etched onto her brain as well. She focused her attention back to Elspeth. Nancy’s crying had turned into a full-blown tantrum to the extent it sounded like something out of a horror movie. ‘Don’t you need to go and sort out Nancy?’

‘Nope,’ Elspeth said swiftly. ‘Gethin’s coping fine. Once she gets into this state, there’s nothing anyone can do until she allows herself to calm down. Sometimes you just have to let the tantrum run its course. Plus, I want to hear more about this bloke.’

‘You’re impossible. I want your advice about a weird situation, not encouragement over a man I barely know.’ Tabitha sighed.

‘Sorry, Tabs. I’m only teasing.’

‘It’s all so weird and unprofessional.’

‘Back up. When you say it’s unprofessional, is it because you’ve done something with him to make you feel that way?’

Tabitha knew exactly where Elspeth was going with this. Her sister could always see right through her; even hundreds of miles away and over the phone. ‘Not exactly… but kinda, yeah.’

‘Ooh! You’ve slept with him, haven’t you?’

‘No, nothing quite like that.’

‘Because that would make it a pretty tricky situation.’

‘Yeah, I’m well aware of that. We had a bit of a drunken snog, though, and wound up in bed together, but apparently nothing happened.’

‘Apparently?’ Elspeth’s voice went up an octave.

‘According to him, we didn’t have sex. I don’t remember much.’

‘Oh lordy. And after he was a drunken nightmare, you kicked him out and he’s been staying in the garden office sneaking around, unbeknown to you.’

‘That’s about right.’

‘Wowsers.’

‘How do things like this happen to me?’

‘You mean, why are you lucky enough to have a hot bloke crash your idyllic house sit on Madeira?’

Tabitha hmphed with frustration. Elspeth meant well, she knew, desperately wanting to see her happy and in love again, but that wasn’t something that Tabitha had been looking for. ‘But I don’t want anyone in my life. I don’t want a relationship, and you know why that is? Because although I was the one who broke up with Lewis, I did love him.’

‘I know you did, Tabs,’ Elspeth said softly.

‘I loved him and he tried to make me into someone I’m not.’

‘I understand that. I know you weren’t happy with him even if you were in love. Sometimes that’s not enough. He was the wrong guy for you.’

‘I keep thinking maybe I’m better off on my own. To find anyone who will understand me and be okay with me living my life the way I want to will take a miracle. And before you say it, I understand that you need to compromise in a relationship, but not to the extent of someone trying to completely change who you are when they knew what you did for a living in the first place.’ Tabitha huffed, relieved to get that off her chest. ‘I guess what I’m trying to say is, Raff being here might sound like a good thing to you, but, trust me, it’s the last thing I want.He’sthe last thing I want.’ She bit her lip and gazed at the twinkling office lights. ‘Rufus and Cordelia have entrusted me with their home and pets and then he’s strolled right in and behaved like a… Like he owns the place.’

‘But he’s their son, right?’ Elspeth interjected. ‘Surely that’s not too much of a problem?’

‘You’d think. There’s bad blood between them. Exactly what all the ins and outs are, I’m not quite sure.’

‘Don’t you think it’s about time you asked him then?’ Elspeth was the voice of reason she needed. ‘You’re perfectly in your right to. You’re the one who’s supposed to be there. Like you said, you’re there in a professional capacity, looking after the house and animals while, I should add, you’re supposed to be working. It’s not as if you’re on a constant jolly, travelling around the world living it up, even if I believe that’s what you’re doing most of the time.’ Elspeth laughed. ‘If he’s there when he shouldn’t be and you’re letting him stay, even out in the garden office—’

‘I haven’t said he can stay yet.’

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