Page 55 of The Island in Bramble Bay
It had been so long since she’d been in her cottage that it felt almost like someone else’s place. Ben had left it very tidy and she discovered he’d bought a really good bottle of wine from the island gift shop and left it on the kitchen table with a note.
Maggie, thanks for lending me your place. It was good to see you again and I’m glad we can be friends. I’ll be back for the next phase but I’ll try and find somewhere else to stay to save you the commute! Best, Ben
Well, that was nice, she thought as she ran upstairs to get changed.
The fish and chip trip was a huge success. The rain had cleared up so they sat on the edge of the quay at Sandbanks and ate with their feet dangling over the edge as they watched the activity around the harbour.
‘How’s Charlie doing?’ Josh asked Maggie as she swirled a chip around in her pot of curry sauce. ‘I’ve not seen much of him since he got back.’
‘He’s fine. He’s been working a lot. He’s got a colleague over here with him as well, so he’s pretty busy.’
‘It’s not the same working the woods without him. Do you think he’ll be back before the end of the season?’
At the moment she found it hard to imagine him ever coming back. ‘I don’t know, Josh. I wish I did.’
52
CHARLIE STOOD IN the shower letting the hot water run over him, removing all traces of Jessica’s kiss. How had she got that photo of him in bed? She’d been to The Battery a few times to work with him but he’d never slept when she’d been there. Nausea washed over him as he thought what Maggie would say if she saw it. He hoped she’d know that he wouldn’t sleep with Jessica but the photo was going to be hard to defend when he had no idea how it had happened.
He dressed and went downstairs. Jessica wasn’t on the sofa anymore. She was sitting at his computer in his study. Unfortunately, as he lived alone he hadn’t bothered with too much security on it and he saw that she was using his account.
‘Christ, there are no boundaries with you are there? Get off my computer.’
She turned to him with a self-satisfied smile. ‘Just checking my emails.’
‘I’m taking you to the mainland. It’s up to you what you do then, get a hotel, fly home, I don’t care but you can’t stay here.’ He didn’t trust her at all and did not doubt that she would find a way to show the photo to Maggie, whatever he agreed to.
‘I don’t think so, Charlie. Unless you’re coming with me?’
‘You know I’m not. I never should have gotten involved with you again.’ He pushed her aside and shut down the computer trying not to think about what she might have been doing. He’d deal with that later. Her case was still beside the door and her handbag was on the sofa. Charlie grabbed both and headed out of the house.
‘Charlie! I’m not leaving!’ she shouted as he dragged the case behind him down to the boathouse.
He didn’t look behind, but as he had all her stuff, he knew she’d be following him. He threw the case and bag into the boat and climbed in after them. Jessica appeared, flustered and angry which cheered Charlie no end. At last, he felt like he was winning the battle with her and he did an imaginary fist pump as she got in the boat.
‘What do you expect me to do? I don’t have a flight booked.’
Charlie shrugged. She was off his island. That was all that mattered to him.
‘You can’t just abandon me!’
‘You got here, you can get back.’
‘God, Charlie, you are going to be so sorry. This is the end of you and Maggie.’
‘No, it’s not. She’s nothing like you, Jessica. She’s not scheming and manipulative, she doesn’t lie to get what she wants. She’ll know that photo’s not what it looks like. She’ll believe me,’ he said, with more conviction than he felt. The evidence was pretty damning and he was not going to give Jessica the satisfaction of asking her how she came to take the picture.
As they approached the quay at Sandbanks, he saw Maggie sitting with all the volunteers. She’d already seen him, he could tell by the look on her face. He raised his hand and waved. Maggie stood up and presumably suggested it was time for them to leave because they all followed suit. Then Josh noticed him, waved and pointed him out to the others who also waved. They looked like they might wait for him to moor, as there was a debate going on but he saw Maggie shake her head and they all got onto their boat. His boat. Josh stood and shrugged in apology to him.
Charlie’s elation at getting Jessica off his island had now dissipated in the face of Maggie’s coldness. She wouldn’t even wait to talk to him. But maybe she didn’t want to see Jessica, that was more likely and he consoled himself with that thought as he watched them pass across his bow as they left.
He moored the yacht behind the Bramble Bay Ferry which had finished for the day, tying off with just two lines as he planned to leave almost immediately. He gestured to Jessica that she should go first, then he passed the case and her bag off to her before standing on the quay himself.
‘I’ll finish the project but I don’t want to see you. We can do it remotely and if anything else is required, I can brief someone else to help out.’
‘If that’s what you want,’ she said, picking up her bag and pulling the handle up on her case. ‘So long, Charlie.’
He got back on the yacht but watched her walk away, heading towards the Sandbanks hotel. It wasn’t quite far enough for his liking, but it would do for now although he still wondered how she had got to his place. What he wanted more than anything was to see Maggie and make things right with her. He had no idea whether Jessica was going to send the photo or not but he had decided to warn Maggie and try to explain since they’d promised to be honest with each other. It wasn’t worth betting on Jessica’s better nature because in his experience, she didn’t have one.
