Page 48 of The Island in Bramble Bay
‘Give me a minute. Wait here.’ She strode over to Ben and Josh, said something to them both and then came back to Charlie while Josh raised his hand in greeting but stayed where he was.
Maggie took Charlie’s hand and led him along the beach to where they would meet a path to take them back to the centre of the island.
‘Is thattheBen?’ It hadn’t dawned on Charlie that it could be Maggie’s ex until he’d heard her speaking to him in such a tone that it was clearly someone she knew pretty well. Once.
‘Yes.’
‘Okay. So I don’t know where to start. He’s staying at your house, in your bed.’
‘There was nowhere else for him to stay. He just turned up and I was going to tell you but to be honest Charlie, I was a bit pissed off wondering when you were going to tell me that you’d been seeing Jessica.’
45
‘CHRIST MAGGIE, I haven’t been seeing her, I’ve been working with her.’
‘But you didn’t tell me. I heard her arrive at your apartment and I know you wouldn’t do that but after what happened with her at Lake Tahoe I didn’t expect you to have anything to do with her.’ Had he forgotten how Jessica had treated her? Didn’t he care?
‘Her company is heavily involved in the new High 5 project. I had no choice but to work with her but it’s purely professional. We don’t discuss anything personal, I made that very clear to her. We’re not even friends. Just colleagues.’ He looked distraught and Maggie couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
‘How can you bear to after what she did to you before?’
Charlie shrugged, ‘It’s just work, I try not to think about that other stuff. Anyway, she really has been nothing but professional, it’s quite impressive.’ He took one look at Maggie’s face and added, ‘I mean, her company’s work has been impressive and that’s the only reason I went along with it.’ He took her hands in his. ‘I know it’s been a while but I love you, that hasn’t changed. Nothing will change that.’
Maggie closed her eyes and leant into him, feeling his arms wrap around her shoulders and breathing in the scent of him that had almost vanished from his house. ‘It’s been hard and when I heard her there with you… well, I just wished you were with me instead.’
‘I wished that too, honey. That’s why I’m here.’ Maggie pulled away and looked up at him as he brushed her cheek with his thumb. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘You look pretty good too, I have a soft spot for smart Charlie. Come on, let’s go to mine and have a cup of tea.’ She took his hand and began to walk away but Charlie stayed still.
‘Ben’s been staying there with you? I called in to take a shower and saw his stuff.’
‘No!’ said Maggie, horrified. ‘I mean yes, he is staying there but I’m not. I’ve been staying at yours. I didn’t know what else to do with him.’ She rolled her eyes and laughed. ‘Oh my god. It’s so weird. He’s the project manager for the holiday lodges. He just turned up on Monday morning. I’d missed a load of emails so it was completely out of the blue.’
They strolled together through the heathland in the middle of the island where the purple heather bloomed, holding hands and feeling like they were the only people on the island, and it stayed that way for a few minutes until a Pack of Scouts appeared.
‘Do you have any time today?’ Charlie asked.
‘I’m going to see Ben off the premises at 3 pm then I’m all yours.’
‘Raincheck on the tea? I’m going to take the boat home and I’ll be back for you at three.’ He lifted her chin gently with his finger and kissed her.
‘I’ll be ready.’ She watched him walk away then sighed and turned back to see what had happened in the half an hour since she’d left Ben alone with Josh. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have managed to condemn too many more trees in that time.
At lunchtime, Maggie suggested that she and Ben have a working lunch in the office to wrap up the week and so she could make sure he would be packed and ready to catch the 3 pm ferry to Sandbanks.
‘What’s going to happen now you’ve marked out where you think the eight lodges are going to be?’ Maggie asked Ben as they sat in the office over sandwiches from the café.
‘I’ll go back with the coordinates we’ve finalised and that’ll be put into the detailed planning application.’
‘Presumably, they’ll come and survey the trees as part of that?’ Maggie felt sure some of the trees were worthy of Tree Preservation Orders but that had never been necessary before.
‘I’ve made detailed notes of what will have to be cleared. That might be enough.’ Maggie hoped that there was someone on the council who would want to put a spanner in the works and slap TPOs on the whole island, just to prove him wrong.
Ben had spent the whole week making sure that Maggie knew he was reporting directly to Rob Tanner on the project. It was obviously giving him an immense ego boost and for the most part, she had gone along with it. If they didn’t want her to be part of it, that was fine. She loved her job and didn’t especially want to be involved in harming the beautiful woodland but it felt rubbish to have been cast aside, especially in favour of someone who would relish lording it over her. But she’d got through it and now, with perfect timing, Charlie was her reward.
‘So it’ll be a while before anything happens.’
‘Don’t worry, Mags, I won’t be turning up on your doorstep again any time soon. I’ll make sure I book my own hotel for next time. Thanks for putting me up.’ He smiled and for the first time Maggie allowed herself to think about the good times they’d had and she smiled back.
