Page 53 of The Island in Bramble Bay
Maggie decided to let it go. She had no idea how much money Charlie had, it didn’t matter to her but he was right. It was money well spent in her book too.
They had lunch in the pub before heading back to Charlie’s island for the evening. Although neither of them had said anything, they were both conscious of the fact that Charlie was leaving in a couple of days and were desperate to wring every last second of being together out of that. Even though Ben had left Maggie’s house a few days ago, she’d barely been there since, choosing to spend every spare moment with Charlie. Finally, although he was about to leave again, things between them were starting to get back to how they had been before they’d left for America.
They headed up from the boathouse towards the house. When it came into sight Charlie stopped.
‘There’s someone here,’ he said, holding his arm in front of Maggie protectively, preventing her from going any further.
‘How do you know? Can you see someone?’ she said, craning her neck to look.
‘The door to the deck is wide open and I know I shut it this morning,’ he frowned. ‘I can see someone inside.’
Charlie began to move slowly along the path with Maggie following. His finger was to his lips as they went, as if Maggie didn’t know to keep quiet when they were trying to surprise a burglar. Who would burgle a house on an island anyway? It was such a hassle to get here let alone try and steal anything and transport it away.
Once they got closer, he straightened up and sighed. ‘For Christ sake, it’s Jessica,’ he said.
50
‘ARE YOU SURE it’s Jessica?’ Maggie asked. ‘Did you know she was coming?’
‘Of course I didn’t know’ said Charlie impatiently, feeling exasperated with Maggie for asking such a ridiculous question. The last thing he wanted was for Jessica to set foot in what had become his sanctuary. The only place, until now, that she hadn’t ruined for him. This was his and Maggie’s place.
They walked up to the house and found Jessica sitting on the sofa, flicking through a magazine. She looked up and smiled at them when they walked in.
‘Hi guys,’ she said. ‘How are you, Maggie? It’s great to see you again.’ She was acting like she was supposed to be there. Maggie flicked him a look as if to say exactly that. Christ, what a mess.
‘Jessica, what are you doing here? I… how did you even get here?’ It was so frustrating looking at her sitting in his house as if she belonged there. Clearly the real Jessica was back.
‘The place looks great, Charlie. Just how I’d imagined it.’
‘Jessica! For fuck’s sake!’
‘Charlie, please.’ She flinched as if his words had stung her but at least she had stopped smiling. ‘I thought if you wanted to be here, with your… girlfriend, then we could shift our base for a while.’ The fleeting look of disdain she threw Maggie’s way wasn’t lost on him and Charlie knew that she wasn’t here to make things easier for him. Far from it, he suspected.
‘It isn’t necessary. I was planning to leave on Saturday anyway.’
‘Well, there’s no rush now that I’m here,’ Jessica said, matter-of-factly.
‘Where are you going to stay?’ asked Maggie, somewhat naïvely Charlie thought. Clearly, he was going to have to let Jessica stay here because as was the case with Ben, practically speaking there was no other choice.
‘I don’t remember there being a hotel nearby, I’ll stay here. Right, Charlie?’ she laughed. He felt beaten and simply nodded in reply.
‘Right, I think I’ll head back to Bramble Island,’ said Maggie, a little too brightly. ‘You don’t mind if I take the boat do you?’
He could hardly refuse because the look on Maggie’s face said she was going to take the boat whatever he said. She clearly just wanted to get away.
‘Okay, I guess I can use the yacht.’
‘Great to see you again, Jessica.’ She barely looked at Charlie as she left through the door onto the deck. He followed her, waiting until they were on the path away from the house, away from Jessica’s glare before he quietly pleaded with her to stop and talk to him but she carried on, purposefully walking towards the boathouse.
‘Maggie, please, I don’t want her here.’ In desperation, he grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her.
‘Charlie! Let go of me.’ She pulled herself from his grip, her eyes fierce. He was stunned to see no trace of tenderness or love. It had disappeared in the few minutes since they’d been back. Since Jessica.
‘I’m sorry, Maggie honey, please. I don’t know what to do!’
‘Stick up for yourself, stick up for me! Do you really think it’s okay to have your ex living in your house? Remember what she did to you!’
‘It’s just for work,’ he said weakly, feeling that he was betraying Maggie as he spoke.
