With a shaking hand and unsteady fingers, she picked it up and called Mr Smith.
‘So, Miss Ashton. What is it to be? Do we accept the offer on the table today of five million dollars?’
Chapter Thirty Six
Isla raced the golf cart back to the pearl farm to see if Anya had heard anything from Leo.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He called me about ten minutes ago from George Town.’
As Isla had left him at least six voice messages, she really couldn’t help but feel truly ignored.
‘Did he say if he was coming back today?’ she asked.
‘I didn’t ask, but it will be dark in half an hour, so I’d guess he’ll be staying overnight. Let me call him back and ask?’ Anya offered.
‘No. It’s okay. Do you know what hotel he might be staying in?’
‘Leo wouldn’t stay in a hotel, Miss Isla. He’s more likely to take a room in a hostel or couch-surf with a friend. But like I said, he didn’t say.’
Isla thanked her and went back to the golf cart in despair. She drove up the hill to the church, hoping the breeze might clear her head and help her to think more clearly. If Leo had called Anya then his phone must be working and he would have seen her calls, so he was deliberately not contacting her. She considered flying over to George Town while it was still light, but there seemed little point if she didn’t know where he was staying.
How frustrating. She’d just made what felt like the biggest decision of her life and, when she needed to explain her reasons to him, he’d gone and done the disappearing act.
She walked over to Kate’s grave and tidied up the flowers there.
‘If you are watching me right now, Kate, I need a sign from you. I really need to know if I did the right thing today or if I made the biggest mistake of my life?’
Just at that moment, she heard the sound of a small aircraft engine and she looked up into the sky.
In delight, she turned back to Kate’s grave again. ‘Really?’
She ran quickly back to the golf cart, pressed her foot to the floor and headed back downhill towards the airstrip. She drove as fast as the cart would take her, hoping that she might get there at the same time as the plane.
Leo looked down from the sky at the island he loved so much and he smiled. Pearl Island looked even more beautiful today, sitting in a vast blue sea like a shimmering teardrop. He remembered how emotional he’d felt two years ago, when he’d arrived back here after all those years in prison and Jack had been waiting to meet him. He felt the same raw emotion about coming home now as he’d felt then.
He rubbed his chin anxiously as the plane dipped and then he stared hard out of the small oval window, catching sight of a golf cart heading along the coastal path towards the airstrip. He kept his eyes on it. Did she always drive that fast?
The Cessna turned and waggled its wings in the breeze as it lined up for the runway. As the wheels touched down, he saw that Isla was there waiting and he smiled again.
Isla caught her breath as the door opened and Leo climbed out of the small plane. He looked heart-stoppingly handsome in knee-length chinos and a pale cream collared shirt worn open at the neck. On his head was a cream Panama hat, worn at a jaunty angle. He waved to her and lifted several boxes and a bottle of champagne out from the back seat of the plane.
‘You went shopping, I see?’ she shouted out to him.
‘Well, you invited me over to dinner tonight and I was out of champagne.’
She rushed over to help him with the boxes. ‘I needed to speak to you. Why wouldn’t you return my calls?’
But as soon as she was close enough to him, he hooked her with his arm and, in one swift movement, he’d swept her off her feet. As his lips came crashing down on hers she could feel the heat of his kiss, his body, and the beat of his heart right next to hers.
When the kiss ended, she looked up at him incredulously. ‘Oh, wow. What was that for?’ She laughed. Her lips were still tingling from the pressure of his kiss.
‘Well, I just assumed from all those calls, that you must have missed me.’
‘I wanted to tell you that I had another offer for the island and I wanted to discuss it with you.’
He raised an eyebrow and lifted his hat. ‘A cash offer for the full asking price?’
‘Yes. How did you know and why are you being so casual about it?’
‘And did this offer include a provision that would make me cash rich too?’
‘Erm, no. Actually, it didn’t.’
He looked at her and lowered his voice. ‘And did you accept it?’
She narrowed her eyes and looked curiously into his green ones. They were sparkling with mischief and playfulness. ‘Erm… something tells me you already know that I… didn’t?’
He pulled her into his arms again. ‘So what does that mean for us, exactly?’
‘It means that you were right. I would be a fool not to be in partnership with you when you are producing the world’s finest pearls. And that I’d miss out terribly if you blocked me from being your Facebook friend. And that I could, with a few adjustments, run my business from here and commute to other places if I really needed to do so.’
‘Is that all? I was kinda’ hoping for some forgiveness thrown in too.’
She laughed. ‘You still have a lot of explaining to do but, yes, I’ve forgiven you, Leo.’
‘Close your eyes. I have something for you,’ he said, his voice now as soft as a whisper.
She did as he asked. But then couldn’t help but to cheat and peek to see Leo searching through the pockets of his new chino shorts.
‘No peeping!’ he insisted. ‘Now hold out your hand.’
With her eyes tightly closed she offered him her right hand but he’d already reached for her left.
She caught her breath as she felt him wrapping something tightly around her third finger.
Her eyes sprung open and she stared down at the fine white gold chain and three pearls sitting there in a white gold setting. It was her precious necklace.
‘Oh, Leo! I thought I’d lost this forever. Where did you find it?’
‘Just outside the grotto cave. The chain is broken. So I think we should have those pearls reset into a ring. Of your own design, naturally. What do you say?’
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. ‘Are you proposing to me, Leo?’
‘Yes, I am. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Only you.’
‘Oh, Leo, I love you too and my answer is still yes.’
And Leo continued to hold her in his arms as the sun went down on Pearl Island. He stroked her hair with his fingers and told her she was the only girl for him in the whole world.
And Isla had never been so happy.
Epilogue
A small group of people are gathered on the side of a hill. The church behind them is painted white in colonial style and has a tall spire pointing into a cloudless blue sky. There is a balmy breeze blowing in from the east, whipping up the minister’s white outer cassock, and causing the petals of the more delicate tropical flowers on the bride’s bouquet to rise up and flutter about like fragrant butterflies.
The congregation have their heads lowered in prayer. Beneath their wide-brimmed hats, their shaded eyes are firmly closed, yet the view from this lofty vantage point is stunning; a sparkling blue-green sea for a full three hundred and sixty degrees around, and below, a white-sand palm-fringed beach is shimmering in the mid-morning heat.
The bride and groom are standing facing each other and holding hands. She is smiling and looking radiant in a simple off-the-shoulder white silk gown. She has white frangipani flowers woven into her long wavy blonde hair. The single string of pearls she is wearing around her neck once belonged to her late grandmother, Kate. The groom is wearing a white linen suit and a sea-blue shirt and tie. The tie, with a nautical themed print, is being kept in place by a seventeenth century gold pin, which used to belong to his late Uncle Jack. They are both standing ba
refoot on white flower petals.
‘Do you, Isla Ashton, take Leo Fernandez to be your beloved husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?’
Isla smiled at Leo and looked deeply into those beautiful pale green eyes of his and said, ‘I do.’
After Minister John had enthusiastically proclaimed them man and wife, and Leo had kissed his bride, everyone cheered. Isla turned to her bridesmaid Evie and her matron of honour Grace and threw her bouquet high into the air. She giggled as they both leapt enthusiastically to meet with it but it was Grace that caught it.
Waving the bouquet in the air triumphantly, in her excitement, Grace turned to look for Carlos. She was keen for him to see that it was she who had caught the bouquet, as this was a sign that they would surely be the next couple to marry in this church.
And that’s when she saw him from the corner of her eye. Not Carlos, but a man standing apart from everyone else under the shade of a gumbo tree.
He was clearly observing the wedding but at a polite distance. She saw that he wore a light-coloured suit and he held a walking cane in his left hand. Grace couldn’t see the expression in his eyes behind his sunglasses or the colour of his hair under his panama hat but she could see that his neat moustache was silver grey. Despite all this, Grace would have recognised him anywhere from his stance and his demeanour alone. She was quite sure this man was Mr Ernest Rocha.
Suddenly finding Carlos at her side, she turned to alert him to the man in their midst, knowing that he too was sure to recognise him.
‘Carlos, look over there. It’s…’
Carlos shielded his eyes with his hand against the bright sunlight and peered over to the place under the tree where Grace was pointing.
‘Qué es eso,Grace? What did you see?’
But in the brief time she had looked away, Mr Ernest had vanished into thin air. She gazed at the spot where he had been standing for a moment, feeling a little confused, and then she shrugged her shoulders and quickly linked arms with her fiancé.
‘Oh, it was nothing. Or maybe I saw a ghost….’
The End
Acknowledgments
Since selling up our home, our possessions, our cars, and almost everything we owned over five years ago, I have been travelling nomadically around the world alongside my backpacking husband. It has been an amazing experience and to date we have circled the world not once but twice - slowly exploring Europe, the USA and Canada: many places in the Caribbean and Central America and also many parts of Asia: Thailand, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and so I wrote Island in the Sun in many locations.
As you might expect, the beautiful places we travel to and the amazing experiences we have there often inspire my stories, so readers often contact me to ask if certain places are real. Indeed, some are real, but it’s only fair to tell you that in this book, Pearl Island, is entirely fictional and completely made up. So, please don’t go venturing off across the Eastern Caribbean Sea in search of it - although to come to think of it - that could turn out to be a great adventure!
You also might be interested to know that while I was on the Caribbean island of Utila, the smallest of the Bay Islands, just off the coast of Honduras, doing online research for the hurricane scene, I actually did track a tropical storm that developed into a real hurricane. The worrying thing was that it was heading right for our island. I was accused by my husband of conjuring it up - but as a writer and for book research purposes - it was pretty amazing to take part in real hurricane preparations on the island. It was especially valuable to be able to talk to those who vividly remembered past hurricanes thundering through that part of the world. As it was, Hurricane Earl changed track and missed us only to slam into the mainland causing terrible loss and damage. We had a lucky escape.
I’d like to extend a huge heartfelt thank you to all those who have helped me and encouraged me in my writing. I’ve had an eclectic career to date self-publishing and now also being published by HarperCollins UK. Thank you to all those who buy and read my books and write reviews and who share and blog about my books. Readers and reviewers are everything to an author. So, please do keep reading and reviewing and do stay in touch with me anytime through my social media channels, as I’d love to hear from you!
It was while working on Island in the Sun that I ran a competition through my social media for a reader to name a character in this book. The character was Isla’s PA in the book and the winner was Jan Brigden. As the draw was made quite close to New Year’s Eve, Jan chose to name the character Evie! The competition was very popular, so I might do another one for my next book. Do look out for it.
You can sign up on my website https://thebackpackinghousewife.com to find out more about my travelling lifestyle and experiences good and bad and why we sold up everything we owned to travel around the world. I send out occasional newsletters when I have some exciting book or travel news to share with you and I like to include notice of special promotions and price drops. There’ll be exclusive subscriber giveaways to do with books and travel, including signed paperbacks, gorgeous travel gear, and even fabulous beach or eco-inspired items of jewellery up for grabs. Do sign up today. The box is up on my website sidebar on any page you click!
Right now I’m continuing to work hard on writing more romantic travel adventure novels to be published by Harper Impulse – the romance imprint of HarperCollins publishers in London - who will be publishing the next book and the much requested by readers sequel to The Backpacking Housewife in 2019. Hurray - I’m so excited!
Love, Janice xx
Also by Janice Horton
Romantic Adventure Novels
The Backpacking Housewife
Castaway in the Caribbean
Reaching for the Stars
Bagpipes and Bullshot
Novellas
Voodoo Romance Boxed Set
How Do You Voodoo
Voodoo Wedding
Voodoo Child
Non-Fiction
How To Party Online
Romantic Comedy
Writing as Janey Travis
I Need A Doctor
Out of Print
Beneath Apricot Skies
When We First Love
Follow Janice Horton on Social Media
Website: https://thebackpackinghousewife.com
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Island in the Sun Page 27