‘It is,’ she said. Pulling a camera from her basket, she stopped to take a picture of the curved pathway in front of them, edged on both sides by trees, shrubs, and colourful flowers. She pointed through the opening in the trees to their right. ‘What’s that over there? Is it a playing field?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, there are pitches for things like football and hockey. There’s also a gym and an indoor pool if ever you want to join. I could show you around if you like?’
‘No, it’s fine, thanks.’
Not to be deterred, he added. ‘Over there is the airport and if you go in that direction,’ he said pointing somewhere in between the two, ‘you’ll go over the sand dunes and down to St Ouen’s Bay.’
‘Where I’ll find the Five Mile Road and quite a few of the bunkers you were talking about?’
He smiled at her. ‘That’s right. Great surfing too.’
They continued walking in silence. It was almost deafening and as hard as he tried, Gabriel couldn’t ignore what he had to do next. He waited until they’d crossed over the road to the final strip of the walk taking them closer towards the Corbiére lighthouse.
‘We were childhood sweethearts,’ he said finally.
She stopped walking and stared at him for a few seconds. ‘I presume you weren’t a couple when we hooked up in Vietnam?’ It was part accusation, part question.
He took hold of her hand. ‘No, we weren’t,’ he said honestly. ‘Bella and I split up soon after we left university. She wanted us to move into a flat together but I wasn’t ready,’ he recalled the tearful threats she’d given him, shocked when she’d gone through with them and left him to move to France to work for a few years. He gave a précis version to Daisy.
She frowned, snatching away her hand from his grasp. ‘If you weren’t together when you came to Vietnam,’ she asked raising her sunglasses up on top of her head so he could see her piercing blue eyes staring at him. ‘Then how come you got together,’ she hesitated, ‘and married such a short time after I’d left?’
‘It wasn’t that short a time,’ he said, trying not to become angry at the memory of her promising to contact him and then not doing so. ‘If you recall you were going to let me know when we could see each other again.’
She looked a little sheepish and shrugged. ‘I had a lot going on.’
He took hold of her gently by the shoulders. ‘Daisy, you’re acting as if I jilted you.’ He studied her face, unable to miss the hurt but not wishing to take all the blame for what had happened since they’d last been together as a couple. ‘I emailed you for months, your number wasn’t recognised and I had no other way of contacting you. You weren’t on any social media sites that I looked at, so how do you expect me to know that you’re still waiting for me?’ He could hear his voice getting colder and quieter the more he tried to reason with her. ‘I loved you. I was hurt to think you’d forgotten me so easily, after all we’d shared together.’
‘I understand that, but it hurts that you not only got back together with your ex but that you rushed off and married her.’ Daisy marched away from him, head down.
Stung by her outburst, Gabriel followed, soon catching up with her. ‘Hey, that’s really unfair,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t like that.’
Daisy stopped. ‘Then why did you get back with her?’
‘Because she was pregnant with my baby,’ he said, the pain of his words and recalling the misery that lay behind them making him wince.
Chapter Six
Daisy
Daisy flinched. ‘She had your baby?’
He cleared his throat. ‘No, she miscarried at five months,’ he murmured.
Daisy’s heart pounded at the shock of this news. She couldn’t think what to say next.
‘After not hearing from you for over a year,’ he said. ‘Bella and I met up with each other when we were each out with friends in town. One thing led to another …’ He looked down at his feet and exhaled sharply. ‘I’m not proud of what I did. I still loved you, so it was unfair to Bella, which was why I felt doubly certain that I had to marry her when she told me she was pregnant.’ He sighed heavily. ‘I’m sorry, Daisy. It was a mistake and we both know that now.’
Daisy didn’t know what to say. ‘How heart breaking for you both,’ she whispered tearing her eyes away from the sadness in his. She turned and began walking. ‘I’m sorry for you and Bella, really I am,’ she said. ‘But I’m going to have to think about this,’ she said heartbroken to think of him preparing to be a father to another woman’s baby. How different to her own father who’d made promises to her mother he hadn’t kept. At least Gabe had stood by Bella and not let her down. It occurred to her that maybe she wouldn’t be so distrustful of others if her father had been around more. She had no right to feel badly towards Gabe when she had no claim on him, but she’d dreamt so many times of their future together and it always involved a brood of tousle-haired boys and girls playing on a sandy beach somewhere.
‘I really am sorry,’ he said, walking next to her.
She could tell he meant what he said. ‘It must have been a difficult time for you both.’ She struggled to resist from adding anything further, but her resentment of what he’d done overtook her best intentions. ‘You must have married pretty soon after sleeping together though.’
‘Three months,’ he said quietly. ‘We weren’t together long because as soon as she lost the baby, she told me she was returning to France and wanted to put the whole mess behind her.’
‘So, it was her choice to leave you?’
‘It was mutual,’ he said quietly. ‘I couldn’t help missing you and she wasn’t ready to settle down.’
‘Will your divorce be final soon?’ she asked, desperate to find something positive to cling to.
‘No, like I said, not for a while,’ he said, moving to avoid collision with a small child on his bike.
‘Why not?’
‘Because in Jersey we have to be married for three years before we can be start divorce proceedings.’
‘So, you can’t begin divorce proceedings for another two and a half years?’ He nodded. ‘How can I think about getting back together with you while you’re still married? I grew up with occasional visits from my father because he was married to someone else soon after my mother became pregnant with me. I’ve told you this already,’ she said not enjoying being so open about her issues with her past. ‘I’m sorry but I can’t contemplate seeing a married man now; it’s too close to home.’
‘I’m sorry about what happened between your parents, Daisy, and I can’t imagine how you feel, but this is different. My marriage to Bella is over in all but name. It’s a legality, nothing more.’ he said. ‘Seeing you again has brought back all the feelings I had for you when we were away. I want to try and make things work between us somehow.’
‘How?’ she asked sensing a laugh rising up through her body, or maybe, she thought horrified by the thought, she was about to cry.
‘I don’t know,’ he said, taking her hands in his. ‘But I’ll work something out. I promise.’
She swallowed and looked down from his face. She wanted him so much, but this was so complicated. Daisy pushed her resentment away, instantly feeling guilty for being so selfish. Maybe she was just jealous. After all it wasn’t really Gabe’s fault that things between them had turned out to be more complicated than she’d expected. She hadn’t exactly been open with him about Aaron and her issues, and her resentment of her father wasn’t his fault.
‘I think we should go back to the hotel now,’ she said, unable to bear feeling so envious of some other woman. She wasn’t a jealous person usually and this alien emotion nauseated her.
‘But I haven’t shown you the lighthouse yet,’ he said.
‘I think we’ve done all we needed to do this afternoon, don’t you?’ she looked up at him and waited for him to answer.
He nodded. ‘Fine, you’re right. It’s time to go back.’
They walked back in silence. Sh
e stole a glance up at him and saw such sadness in his face that for a second she felt cruel. She’d been the one who promised to contact him and hadn’t. It’s my own fault, she realised. If I had answered his emails like I wanted to then none of this would have happened. She’d had her reasons though, despite how much she wanted to turn back the clock, and nothing could change what she’d had to cope with then. She pushed the image of Aaron, to the back of her mind. She couldn’t cope with thinking about him right now. ‘Life’s a real shit sometimes,’ she said, not meaning to voice her thoughts.
‘You’re not kidding.’
They arrived back at the hotel valley and Daisy stopped and turned to him. ‘Let’s go our separate ways from here,’ she said unable to bear being with him and her thoughts a moment longer. ‘I’m going to go to my room for a bit and I think you need to go and see if Fi needs anything.’ She checked her watch. ‘I’ve got to be back on Reception in just over an hour and need to shower and chill for a bit first.’
‘Why don’t you have a swim?’ he suggested. ‘The pool is lovely and cool enough to be refreshing.’
‘I think I’ll do that then,’ she said. ‘But I thought the staff weren’t supposed to swim in the pool.’
He shrugged. ‘They can as long as they’re discreet and it’s not in the middle of the day. It’s usually quiet round about now, so why not make the most of it.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, grateful to him for the suggestion. ‘I will.’ Without waiting for him to say anything else, she walked up the stairs closest to the staff quarters to go and change into her costume. Stepping inside, she pushed her window as wide as it would go to let in some much-needed fresh air, not that the humid evening was allowing much relief for her inside the room. She pulled off her skirt and top and changed out of her underwear and into the red halter-neck bikini she’d bought online in a sale when she’d been given the job in Jersey. There wasn’t any point coming to work in a holiday island and not make the most of the glorious weather, she thought.
A lifetime living on the outskirts of Devon hadn’t really prepared her for island life. Though one thing she hadn’t had any trouble getting used to be the glorious weather. We might only be a couple of hundred miles south of the coast of England, she thought, but this place seems almost tropical at times. She loved this island and whether Gabriel was staying or not, she had hoped to be able to stay here for the foreseeable future.
She put on a loose-fitting cotton dress and flip-flops and walked outside to the pool area. She looked around, relieved to see that only the pool attendant was out there, tidying up the seat covers and straightening tables. The guests must be out seeing the island, she decided. Slipping the dress over her head, she placed it down with her towel on one of the chairs in a far corner to the entrance of the area. She walked over to the edge of the pool, dipped the toes of her right foot into the water and then without giving herself time to think, dived in.
Her warm skin stung briefly when it touched the cool water. The other-worldly feeling of gliding through the water, unable to hear or feel anything or anyone around her, was bliss. She opened her eyes and swam to the shallow end, coming up for air with a smile on her face. Wiping the water from her face, she smoothed her wet hair back from her forehead, looking towards the arched front double doors of the hotel, just as Gabriel accompanied a couple of guests to their taxi. He stopped and gave her a smouldering look. She felt a pang so strong that all her good intentions of not falling for him were lost in an instant.
Unable to tear her gaze away from his, the message of his regret came across perfectly and for a second she wondered if maybe she’d been too quick to dismiss the prospect of the two of them ever being able to move on from this. The man standing next to Gabriel realised he wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying and Daisy saw him look over in her direction, giving her an approving look. She bent her knees so her shoulders were in the water just when the woman also looked in her direction, no doubt to see what they were staring at. She smiled at Daisy and said something to Gabriel, who reddened slightly, shook his head, and opened the taxi door for them.
Daisy swam to the other side of the pool. Not wishing to be the centre of so much attention, she hurriedly got out, grabbed her towel and wrapping it around her chest, picked up her bag, slipped on her flip-flops, and went around the side of the hotel to return to her room. She heard the taxi purring down the curved driveway and slowed her step. How could she really expect this situation to continue, she wondered miserably. Gabriel had his issues, as well as a divorce to deal with and was certainly going to be around for the next month while Francesca and Rick were working, and as difficult as it was going to be, she couldn’t let Lydia down by leaving.
It wasn’t only that she had nowhere else to go, but also that she didn’t pull out of her contract, and she’d agreed to work the entire season at The Encore. She would just have to keep her head down and work hard, saving as much as possible so that she could maybe share a flat with someone who had residential qualifications here on the island. Gabriel wouldn’t be here too long, she decided: he had too many interests elsewhere with his marine exploration.
After a few days of trying to do just that, Daisy was working on a group booking at Reception and Lydia walked up to the desk. ‘Hello,’ she said, her short white hair as immaculate as ever.
‘Hi,’ Daisy replied. ‘Isn’t this weather glorious?’
Lydia nodded. ‘It is, thankfully. The guests are always so much happier when they can plan their days to the beach or simply relaxing by the pool.’ She nodded a greeting to a passing gentleman who raised his Panama hat slightly in acknowledgement. When he’d stepped outside, Lydia added. ‘I haven’t seen you in my garden recently. Is everything all right?’
Embarrassed to have appeared rude and to have caused Lydia concern, Daisy blushed. ‘Fine, really. I’ve just been, um, busy with this and that.’
Lydia looked either side of her to check no one was around and bending slightly, said. ‘So your absence has nothing to do with my grandson’s little bombshell the other day?’
Daisy frowned. ‘I’m sorry?’ She hadn’t expected him to share their argument with his grandmother and was mortified to think they’d been discussing her behind her back.
Lydia shook her head. ‘I think that came out a little oddly. I have a confession to make to you.’
Not another confession, Daisy groaned inwardly. ‘What is it?’ she asked politely, not really wishing to know.
‘I overheard your conversation with Gabriel in my garden.’
Daisy racked her brains to think what they’d actually said. She didn’t want to offer any information if it was incorrect, so shrugged. ‘Sorry, I can’t recall what we were talking about.’
‘His marriage to Bella,’ Lydia said gently. ‘I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but I was working on a small shrubbery and you two stopped in front of a couple of the bushes and there didn’t seem to be the right time to make my presence known to you. Are you all right?’
Daisy was unable to hide the look of hurt on her face. ‘It was a shock,’ she said quietly.
Lydia nodded. ‘I’m sure it must have come as a terrible blow.’ She put one hand on her chest.
It occurred to Daisy that Gabriel’s secret had brought back unexpected memories for Lydia too. Daisy could see she was troubled by them and hurriedly forced a smile. ‘I’m fine now though, honestly,’ she fibbed.
Lydia studied her face and Daisy couldn’t help looking away, aware that she could see right through her attempts at bravery. ‘I think we should sit down and have a chat, woman-to-woman. Pop round after your shift, if you want’
‘I’d like that,’ Daisy admitted. It would be good to speak with someone she trusted, even if that person adored Gabriel above anyone else.
After her shift was over, Daisy caught a bus to Lydia’s house and the two of them went for a walk down to the end of her garden and onto the beach below.
‘I’m
glad you invited me to do this,’ Daisy said, stepping out of her flip-flops and holding them in one hand. ‘I think one of my all-time favourite things has to be walking barefoot on a sandy beach.’
‘I agree,’ Lydia said pushing the front of her straw hat down a little further onto her forehead. ‘Please don’t think too badly of Gabriel,’ she said. ‘He means well even if he’s made some choices I find difficult to accept.’
‘Don’t you like Bella?’ Daisy asked, hoping she wasn’t over-stepping the mark where her employer was concerned.
Lydia stopped walking and looked at Daisy, the intensity of her icy blue gaze reaching deep into her soul. ‘I do like her.’ She rested a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. ‘She’s a lovely girl, although I’m sure that’s not what you’d prefer me to tell you.’
Her honesty stung, but Daisy was grateful to Lydia for being so open. At least this way she could be sure she was telling her the truth.
‘A few years ago,’ Lydia continued. ‘I would have been delighted to welcome her to the family.’
‘Oh? What’s changed?’ Daisy asked, confused.
‘I think I should be honest with you about my feelings for Bella. Her family were good friends with Francesca and Rick and so when Gabriel and she were teenagers it was probably not too unexpected that they began dating each other. No one foresaw them continuing that relationship though, and I think you should know that Francesca is more than a little disappointed that Bella and Gabriel are getting a divorce. She’d been looking forward to, well …’
‘Becoming a grandmother?’ Daisy offered when Lydia struggled to find the right words.
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 97