Page 83 of An Island in the Sun

‘Yep, book two is delivered and you have my undivided attention for the rest of the weekend, I promise.’

A waiter came over and Raff ordered a coffee. He leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh and gazed out at the river sparkling in the morning sun.

Raff showing up at her sister’s had shocked and elated Tabitha. The timing was perfect and the two of them had moved in to the cabin in the woods for the next couple of weeks, working during the day, eating with Tabitha’s family in the evening and spending the nights alone. They kissed in the hot tub to the sound of owls hooting and the sight of bats flying, then headed to bed to continue exploring the feelings that had been ignited on Madeira.

On the weekends, the girls would come and find them, although Elspeth didn’t allow them to be disturbed until late morning, conscious of how much Tabitha and Raff craved alone time. Saturday and Sunday mornings were spent in bed having lazy morning sex and talking about everything, before the girls’ laughter filtered from beyond the trees, dragging them out of bed to explore the woods rather than each other. The girls couldn’t get enough of Raff, taking him into their hearts as much as he had with them. For Tabitha, those couple of weeks at the Hideaway were some of the best she’d ever had.

As Tabitha and Raff began to fall for each other, the landscape had begun to change. The leaves turned golden yellow, bronze and red, while a chill wind blustered autumn in. With an occasional frost in the morning and the cooler nights, they were glad of the wood burner and the cosy cabin with its bed up in the eaves. Outside, crunchy leaves carpeted the grassy clearing and the firepit was a necessity when they sat out in the evening. The view from the wildflower meadow changed too; the woodland was ablaze with autumn colour, while the distant mountains took on an ethereal silver hue. The sunshine was weaker, the colours more muted now summer was over.

Just as the puzzle pieces had slotted into place when Tabitha had last seen Ollie on Madeira, living with Raff cemented all the feelings that had been swirling during her time on the island. The possibility of what could be was slowly turning into reality.

Raff’s relationship with his parents was in no way fixed, but they’d talked and had begun to heal the hurt after years of misunderstanding. The difficult and revealing conversations that Tabitha had been party to with Cordelia and Rufus after Raff had left were continued when he returned, along with heartfelt apologies from Raff’s parents for accusing him of stealing when, deep down, they knew he hadn’t.

There was communication between Cordelia and Rufus and Julie and Anton as well after Raff had impressed upon his parents just how much Julie, in particular, had supported him over the years. There’d been tears on all sides. Raff had confided in Tabitha how hard it had been to dig up the past he’d run away from, but cathartic too. It had been freeing for them both to revisit difficult periods in their lives, to try to come to terms with their sadness. Raff being brave enough to face his parents and their chequered past had made Tabitha do the same with hers. Opening up to Julie and then Raff on Madeira had been the start of her own healing process. At the Hideaway, Elspeth was there for her and they talked, as they’d always done, but Tabitha shared everything, and when Raff arrived, there was no topic off limits between them. She’d never been in a relationship with anyone she’d felt so free and comfortable with.

Raff had no ties and had been desperate to escape London and a past that was plagued with bad choices and regret. Travelling with Tabitha offered a clean slate and, for her, after weeks of living together and delving deeper into their lives and their feelings for each other, she didn’t want to go anywhere without him. He was open to new places but had the independence that had always been missing with Lewis. So, at the end of October, amid tears, laughter and the promise of visiting again soon, Tabitha and Raff said goodbye to Elspeth, Gethin, Olivia and Nancy and, after a flying visit to Devon so Raff could meet her parents, they headed to the US. During the three weeks Tabitha spent in Nashville writing with an up-and-coming new star for the record label, Raff worked from their apartment. They slotted together perfectly, both of them relishing their independence while making the most of their evenings and the weekends together. Tabitha’s desire to be on her own had evaporated as her love for Raff had grown and they’d both embraced a social life in Nashville, with Tabitha saying yes to invites to parties or meals out with her producer and drinks with the singer, which only a few months before she would have turned down. Raff never once held her back. He encouraged her and had been by her side when she’d wanted him to be without ever leaving her feeling stifled.

Ollie’s US tour had kicked off and a video of Ollie standing on stage in front of thousands of fans dedicating the final song of the night to Tabitha went viral.

‘I’m making good on a promise – something I should have done a long time ago. “A Star Like You” was actually written by my good friend, talented songwriter Tabitha Callahan. I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused. This is just the start of making it up to you, Tabs.’ After only sporadic messages from Ollie since she’d last seen him on Madeira, this public apology surprised her, making it clear that he really was intent on trying to put things right.

Her social media followers shot up and both she and Ollie were a hot topic for a few days, to the point that she got a taste of his life in the public eye and didn’t like it one bit. It cemented her opinion of fame being the last thing she craved. Ollie was welcome to it, but she appreciated the gesture and the public apology more than anything.

As well as the video, his Instagram was filled with images of him on stage and at parties, but Tabitha didn’t regret her decision to not join him and was mightily relieved when the media fuss surrounding her inevitably died down. She had the career she’d always craved, the satisfaction of working on her own terms, someone she loved by her side, along with the ability to travel and follow her dreams. It was everything she’d wanted and more.

The first time Raff had told her he loved her was when they’d gone back to Madeira for a week in February, chasing the sun after a few weeks in the gloomy, cold and wet UK. They’d stayed with Raff’s parents for a couple of nights and had dinner with Julie and Anton too, before spending the remainder of the week on their own at an Airbnb cottage nestled among banana plantations by the ocean in Calheta. On their penultimate day, they’d left behind the sunshine at sea level, picked up Bailey and Fudge and driven to Fanal Forest in the northwest for a walk in one of the most stunning areas of the island. The temperature had dropped and the ancient laurel forest had been shrouded in fog. They’d wandered hand in hand among the twisted trunks of the trees with the dogs, the fog drifting like white smoke, blanketing the landscape. It was otherworldly and magical, a complete contrast to the warmth and sunshine they’d left behind. They’d taken a selfie, two shadowed figures with beaming smiles surrounded by white apart from the dark entwining branches reaching out as if to embrace them. They’d kissed and then he’d said he loved her. Wrapped in his arms, Tabitha hadn’t hesitated in her reply, her feelings for him as clear as the mornings on Madeira where you could see for miles out into the vast Atlantic.

‘I love you too.’

* * *

Tabitha and Raff finished their coffee, just as the tables surrounding them began to fill with tourists. It was a Saturday and they had a couple more days until their house sit in Porto ended and, with a free weekend, she was determined to make the best of it and revisit the places they’d come to love. So that’s what they did, strolling hand in hand across the bridge, their thighs protesting as they navigated their way up the hill to Taylor’s Port House and sat in the library tasting thirty-year-old tawny port. They headed back across the river for grilled spatchcock chicken at a small family-run restaurant where they only spoke Portuguese.

With aching feet, they got back to the apartment and flopped together on the sofa. Early-evening sunshine streamed through the windows. Dust motes twirled in the light. Much like the apartment in Paris and the log cabin in Canada she’d stayed in, Tabitha didn’t want to leave their Porto apartment with its large shuttered windows, exposed stone walls and gleaming wooden floors marrying effortlessly with the modern kitchen, bathroom and queen-sized bed. In the heart of Porto’s heritage centre, they were walking distance from everywhere and even had the use of the tiny but beautiful courtyard garden.

The cat, Luna, slunk past, smoothing her fur against their legs.

Raff curled his arm around Tabitha’s shoulders and sighed. ‘I’m going to be sad to leave here.’

‘Me too,’ she said, smiling at how his words echoed her thoughts.

Raff rested his bare feet on the coffee table and tugged her closer. ‘What’s your dream, Tabs?’

‘It doesn’t matter about my dream; it has to be our dream for it to work.’ She relished being enclosed in his strong arms and the tickle of his fingers brushing against her skin.

‘Okay, what’s our dream? You start.’

Tabitha gazed out at their little slice of Porto, temporary but somewhere she would desperately miss. What they wanted to do and the places they wanted to go had often been a topic of conversation over the last few months as they’d travelled together. ‘I’d like to live somewhere vibrant.’

‘Definitely. Somewhere beautiful and full of life,’ Raff added, wafting his hand towards the arched windows with the stonework and wrought-iron balcony of the townhouse opposite filling the frame like a painting. ‘What about long term, though? Where do you see us?’

Tabitha met his eyes, which were so open and honest. Not long ago, a question like that would have scared her stupid; now it left her open to the possibility of a future filled with not just the thrill of travelling and having a career she adored, but the security and happiness of sharing it with someone she loved.

She slid her hand across his muscled stomach and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I see us finding somewhere we can’t bear to leave, somewhere so perfectly wonderful we just know it could be home.’

‘But we haven’t found it yet?’

Tabitha shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’

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