Page 30 of The Island in Bramble Bay
‘And if all of that hadn’t happened you’d still be somewhere in the middle of England with Ben instead of sunning yourself on my boat. How can that be a bad thing?’ He let go of her and started to take his trousers off.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Celebrating!’ He pulled his t-shirt over his head and dived off the boat into the sea. Maggie couldn’t help but shriek, she was so taken aback. It did look inviting, especially after they’d been sat in the midday sun picnicking for a while but when Charlie surfaced, shaking his head to flick the water out of his hair, trying to pretend that it wasn’t freezing cold, she made her mind up not to join him.
‘Oh my god, you’re a lunatic! It’s not even June yet, it’s freezing!’
‘Nah, it’s beautiful, come on!’ It took a couple of minutes of him treading water before he realised he had no chance of persuading her to take the leap but he was good-natured about it, climbed back onto the boat via a ladder at the stern and then spent a couple of minutes threatening to give Maggie a cold, wet bear hug before he went down into the cabin to dry off.
Once he was dressed again, he thought they should cast off and head back to Bramble Bay. Maggie was quite looking forward to the journey back. She loved the feeling of whipping across the sea at such a pace that the wind and spray were in her face. It felt amazing and she knew she was safe with Charlie. It was quite a turn on to see him in control of the boat, knowing exactly what he was doing.
She was so immensely relieved that everything was out in the open now, for both of them. Now, it really did feel like she had a fresh start and telling Charlie made her realise that the whole sorry episode with Ben had got so much worse in her mind since it had happened. She would always regret the dalliance with Nick but it would have ended with Ben anyway. She knew that now.
26
CHARLIE CHECKED HIS bag for the hundredth time that morning. Passport, tickets, wallet, phone, laptop. He had everything. Except Maggie. She had insisted on spending the night at her cottage alone so that she could pack in peace.
The only downside to living on an island was that there was no easy way to get off in style. If they’d been on the mainland, he’d have sent a car to fetch her but as it was, he was taking his little boat to Bramble Island to collect her, in his fancy clothes and with his luggage — at least it wasn’t raining — and then they’d leave the boat there and get the Bramble Bay Ferry to Sandbanks where a car was meeting them to take them to the airport.
Jared had emailed him the week before, saying that everything was ready for him to sign so he’d put the wheels in motion to travel over to the States. Luckily Maggie had got the launch of the Trust Treks over with as well as the busy late May bank holiday weekend so she had felt happy about coming away now before the summer really kicked off on the island.
When he arrived at the quay, Maggie was already there waiting for him, her suitcase next to her. She looked amazing. Her hair was loose, falling in glorious chestnut waves around her shoulders and she was wearing dark jeans with ballet flats, a white sleeveless shirt and a red cardigan around her shoulders which made him notice the hints of red in her hair all the more. They’d hardly seen each other out of their work clothes so it took Charlie by surprise to see her looking comparatively sleek.
For his part, he was wearing dark jeans with his favourite brown brogue boots. He’d put them on that morning for the first time in so long and he felt great; smart and confident. His shirt sleeves were already rolled halfway up his forearms to make sure he didn’t get covered in dirt from the boat engine and he had a tweed jacket with him, another forgotten but loved item of clothing from his old life. He wondered whether Maggie was thinking the same thing about him as he watched her face spread into a grin while he docked.
‘Wow, what’s happened to my woodland friend?’
‘He took a really long shower and smartened himself up. I smell pretty good you know.’ He stepped onto the quay and gave her a lingering kiss.
‘God, you do smell good.’
He could see in her eyes that she thought he smelled so good she might want to break the journey with a quick detour back to her cottage.
‘Okay, you got everything? Passport? Panties?’
‘Really? That’s your last-minute checklist?’ she laughed.
‘Not for me, but I have the tickets and the money so, you know. Passport?’ he persisted, having heard too many stories of people leaving their passport behind, and living on an island made it much worse if you needed to come back for anything you’d forgotten.
They made their way with their luggage over to where the Bramble Bay Ferry would pick them up.
‘I’m so excited,’ Maggie said. ‘I can’t believe we’re going to America.’
‘Neither can I,’ said Charlie, with a slight grimace. He knew there would be more to the visit than just a signature required. That was all he wanted to do but he suspected there would be a fair amount of press attention about the sale and probably about his return to the Valley after stepping away for so long. He hadn’t shared that worry with Maggie because he was hoping for the best; that it would be an amazing holiday with her and just a quick meeting to sign the papers.
Charlie was in his element at seeing Maggie get excited about everything from the airport lounge – she’d never been in one before – to the beds on the plane. He was going all out to make it an unforgettable experience for her. He could still remember the first time he’d flown first class, the first time people had treated him differently because he’d had money. Arrogance was something he’d frequently seen go hand in hand with coming into money through friends he’d known who had made it big and he’d always been conscious not to let that happen to him. He’d tried to keep himself grounded, so didn’t often flaunt his wealth but today, he just wanted to make the most of being able to give Maggie everything.
After they’d polished off a bottle of champagne between them and had a pretty good meal for airline food, they’d settled down to sleep on the lie-flat beds. Maggie was spark out straight away but the closer they got to the US, the more anxious he became. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep, he pulled his laptop out of his bag and did a little work.
The aftermath of his accident a couple of months earlier had nearly sent him insane. At first, he hadn’t known how he was going to fill his days without being able to work in the woods, so he’d gone back to his first love, writing software. That was where it had all started and as soon as he picked it up again, he’d realised how much he’d missed it. He’d started contributing to some open-source software projects and had found it hugely satisfying. It had ticked along in the background ever since.
They landed in San Francisco in the early evening. It was warm but raining and they were both exhausted. Charlie had arranged a car to pick them up from the airport and take them to the hotel. Maggie fell asleep on his shoulder in the car. He looked out at the streets which still looked so familiar and wondered what she would think of the place that used to be his home.
The plan was to have a couple of days in San Francisco before heading to San Jose for the signing of the papers. Charlie had wanted it out of the way at the start so that they could enjoy the rest of the trip without it hanging over him. He had sent a brief email to Jared outlining his itinerary up to the point of the meeting and then, Charlie thought, he need never see him again.
Now that he was with Maggie, he had started to move on after being stuck in limbo since he’d left the States and it felt good to be about to put this chapter of his life behind him once and for all.
27
