Page 75 of An Island in the Sun

Cordelia stood up and glanced around before looking coolly at Tabitha. ‘He’s gone, hasn’t he?’

‘Yes, he has. He thought it was for the best.’

Tabitha’s stomach felt as tightly clenched as her fists as she tried her hardest to hold it together. Part of her wanted to rage at Rufus and Cordelia on Raff’s behalf, but with Cordelia’s stony face and Rufus’s obvious distress, she needed to remain calm.

Tension bristled; there was none of the relaxed and happy banter of her first evening. Only the dogs were behaving normally, excited to see their owners return, eager for the attention.

Leaning on crutches, Rufus looked drained, his usual chattiness dampened, his tanned face tired and washed out. The long journey with three connections had obviously taken it out of him. He smiled weakly at Tabitha and put a hand on his wife’s shoulder as she emptied her shoulder bag on the coffee table. ‘If you don’t mind, I’m going to lie down.’

‘Of course,’ Cordelia said, although her tone was still clipped.

‘Do you need help with your luggage?’ Tabitha asked, at a loss for how else to break the tension.

‘It can stay in the hallway for the time being.’ Rufus made his way towards the bedroom.

Now what? How soon could she make herself scarce? From loving being here, all she wanted to do was flee, a feeling that kept following her around, never seeming to let up.

‘There’s, um, food in the fridge if you’re hungry,’ Tabitha said to fill the silence. ‘Fresh bread and fruit too.’

‘How dare he stay here without our knowledge.’ Cordelia turned on Tabitha, anger blazing in her eyes.

Tabitha sighed, resigned that an easy escape wasn’t going to be possible.

‘How could you allow this to happen?’

Tabitha tried to control the churning in her stomach, wanting to answer with calmness to counteract Cordelia’s rage. ‘It wasn’t as simple as allowing it to happen,’ Tabitha said, keeping her voice low and neutral. ‘He turned up in the middle of the night – I wasn’t even aware you had a son; there are no photos. You never once mentioned him—’

‘So it’s our fault?’

‘I didn’t say that. I just want you to understand why he took me by surprise and because I didn’t know about him, there was a hell of a lot of explaining to do. Taking into account it was midnight and he had nowhere else to go, what did you expect me to do? Kick him out?’

Cordelia bristled. ‘You had no right.’

‘I didn’t feel I had a choice!’ Tabitha’s calmness vanished.

‘You should have asked us.’

‘Hindsight’s wonderful, isn’t it? He didn’t know I was going to be here and at the time it was for one night.’

‘Then how on earth did he end up staying?’

The events of the past couple of weeks flashed through Tabitha’s mind; a snapshot of moments that kept drawing them together, from first locking eyes in the hallway to tequila-fuelled laughter and tumbling into the pool; standing together on the path beneath the waterfall and dancing in the club in Funchal; kissing him that night after the wedding then waking up in his arms.

‘It’s complicated,’ Tabitha said, holding Cordelia’s cool gaze.

‘That doesn’t answer anything.’ Cordelia folded her arms. ‘He had no right to be here and you had no right to let him stay without our express permission.’

‘Which you wouldn’t have given.’ Anger flared inside Tabitha, her calmness erupting into contempt. ‘You’ve cut him off and constantly pushed him away. Can you blame him for sneaking around?’

‘But why?’ Cordelia said with an edge to her voice somewhere between upset and anger. ‘If he hates us so much, why bother coming back at all? Unless of course it’s because he wants to use us and our house. Take what he feels he’s owed.’

‘You don’t get it at all, do you? He doesn’t hate you. He loves you. Both of you.’ Tabitha echoed the very words she’d said to Raff the evening before about his parents loving him. ‘All he’s ever wanted is for you to see him for who he is.’

‘And who is he, Tabitha? Huh? Because I sure as hell don’t know. He’s done his very best to distance himself from us through his behaviour and actions.’

‘He’s kind, intelligent, troubled, confident, mischievous – lots of things. I do know he’s desperate for your approval. He’s lived his life never thinking he’s good enough.’

‘And yet, he’s continued to fight us despite everything we’ve done for him.’

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