In and out. In and out.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, her mind focused only on her breaths, but eventually the unease began to ebb away, and she felt able to come back to the present.
Alex had returned, his arm once again behind his head, the hood of his top pulled up over his dreadlocks. She could barely make out his features now in the dark, and looking up, she saw that a thick swell of cloud was obscuring the moon. The breathing had calmed her; slumber would not be far off now.
‘What are you thinking?’ she said softly.
It was a question that she had often asked James, much to his exasperation, but Alex did not so much as sigh. She heard him clear his throat.
‘I was thinking that we’re equal now.’
Kate’s eyelids were heavy with sleep, her reply little more than a murmur. ‘What do you mean?’
‘The first time we met, I was naked. And after today . . .’
‘Oi,’ she interrupted drowsily. ‘If we never talk about it, it never happened, remember?’
‘It will be our secret,’ he agreed.
‘There are no secrets between us,’ she whispered. ‘Not anymore.’
She did not hear his reply because sleep crept in then to steal her away. But later, Kate would wonder – had she missed the words he uttered?
Or had he simply said nothing at all?
Chapter 30
The last thing Kate expected to find in the hotel reception the following morning was a strange man she’d never seen before.
She’d woken on the terrace to find Alex gone and her phone battery flat, the charger still in the front pocket of the rucksack where she’d left it, coiled neatly like a sunbathing snake. Squinting up at a sky that was still muted with traces of dawn, Kate pulled aside the blanket and got slowly to her feet, stepping carefully over the discarded remains of last night’s meal. Charger and phone in one hand and washbag in the other, she made her way barefoot across the leaf-strewn terrace and pushed open the double doors which led into the hotel’s former dining area. Alex was not in here, but she heard a voice coming from the reception area.
‘You should have woken me up – oh!’
The man lowered his phone from his ear and held up a single finger to indicate that she should wait a moment. He was tall – far more so than Alex – with thick hair the colour of butter and the sort of trendy, frameless glasses that Kate had never been able to afford.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she heard a creak and looked around to see Alex peering down from the upper landing.
‘Hey,’ she mouthed, swivelling her eyes questioningly in the direction of the new arrival.
Alex descended the stairs, drawing level with her just as the man ended his call. There was dust in his beard and a smear of something black across the front of his red hoodie.
‘Hello.’ The man stepped forwards and went to kiss her on the cheek. Caught unawares, Kate stumbled backwards and had to be caught by Alex.
Why was he always having to catch her?
‘This is Mr Van Dijk,’ said Alex. ‘The new owner.’
‘Bram, please,’ the man said, his English heavily accented. ‘You are Katy – the interior designer?’
‘I . . . No. Not really.’ Kate stared at her feet.
‘Ah.’ Bram Van Dijk glanced from Alex back to Kate. ‘I must be mistaken.’
‘No, you’re not,’ said Alex. ‘Kate here is just a bit bashful, you see. I was just telling Bram about your website.’
‘You mean my Instagram account,’ Kate corrected, to which Alex shrugged.
‘I’m not very tech-knowledgeable.’
‘Can I look?’ Bram Van Dijk held out his hand expectantly and Kate, realising he wanted the phone that she still had clutched in her hand, shook her head apologetically.
‘It’s dead I’m afraid. I was just on my way to charge it and get dressed,’ she said, cringing as she clocked him looking her up and down.
‘A very nice dress,’ he said. ‘You look like two Spice Girls mixed together – Posh Spice and Ginger Spice.’
‘Thanks,’ said Kate with a laugh. ‘I think.’
‘Shall we?’ said Alex, motioning towards the far door. ‘I’m just going to show Bram what we did yesterday,’ he told Kate. ‘Then we can get everything loaded up and head off.’
In the end, however, Bram Van Dijk was so impressed by the amount of work Alex and Kate had done that he insisted on giving them brunch.
‘I have a little boat at the port,’ he told Kate conspiratorially. ‘I think you will enjoy it.’
‘Does the Danish word for “little” translate into “monster-sized”?’ whispered Kate to Alex an hour later, as they wobbled their way across a polished wooden gangplank and up onto the deck of a vast, gleaming super yacht. Alex, who had been even quieter than usual since the impromptu invitation had been issued, wrinkled his nose in reply.
‘Hello,’ called Bram, from the depths of a squashy leather sofa. He didn’t rise to greet them, merely ushered them both into the seats opposite his own and plucked a bottle of champagne from an ice bucket.
‘None for me, thank you.’ Alex put a hand over the top of his allocated glass. ‘I have to drive the boat back to Hvar after this.’
‘Katy?’
‘It’s actually Kate – and go on then,’ she said politely, gazing around at the shiny fixtures and fittings as Bram topped her flute up to the brim. ‘This is some little boat you have here.’
Bram laughed, so loudly that Kate recoiled.
‘It is not mine,’ he told her. ‘Just a rental. Would you believe me if I told you it was worth more than the hotel?’
‘Yes,’ she said, taking in the enormous flatscreen TV on the wall behind him and what looked to be a hot tub on the other side of the lower deck. ‘And you’re here alone?’
‘At the moment,’ he said, his voice loaded with suggestion. ‘But you are always welcome, of course.’
There was a crash as Alex’s full water glass hit the table.
‘Sorry,’ he said, as Bram Van Dijk made a lunge for his iPad. ‘Accident.’
‘No problem, Alex.’ Bram smiled genially as a young man wearing an apron appeared and began wiping up the spillage. ‘Thank you, Marko,’ he said. ‘It is vulgar to have staff, but Marko came with the boat,’ he told Kate.
She could not be certain, but Kate was pretty sure she heard Alex mutter something under his breath.
Marko returned presently with plates of fresh fruit, fluffy scrambled eggs and bread sliced thin as tissue paper. It was delicious, as was the champagne that Bram kept pouring into her glass, but Kate had much preferred the meal she and Alex shared the previous night. She kept trying to catch his eye, to show him how ludicrous she was finding this whole experience, but Alex kept his gaze steadfastly on his food or their host, who was regaling the two of them now with his plans for the hotel – many of which sounded utterly dreadful. He did not ask about Kate’s Instagram account again and she was too shy to bring the subject up. Her heart went repeatedly out to the poor old building, though, which was surely facing death by dire decor.
‘We should get going soon,’ Alex said, putting his knife and fork together. He had barely touched his food.
They had loaded all the salvaged items and dropped off the moped and bags already, so once they had bid farewell to Bram, who was halfway down a second bottle of bubbly and kissed Kate a bit too enthusiastically on both cheeks, Kate and Alex walked the ten or so minutes along the seafront to reach his boat. As ever, the sun was bold and bright, the water below a frenzied animation of light. Supetar Port bustled with signs of industry, while the far horizon was a shadow-puppet theatre of car and cargo ferries.
‘So,’ she said, when she was sure they were out of Bram’s earshot, ‘Mr Van Dijk is, er, interesting.’
‘Like him, do you?’ Alex had pulled his baseball cap down so far over his nose that Kate couldn’t see his eyes.
‘Like is not quite the word
I would choose,’ she said, mulling it over for a moment.
‘He’s certainly an entertaining individual; I’ll give him that. Eccentric for sure.’
‘And rich,’ put in Alex. ‘Extremely rich.’
‘James would have loved him,’ she said. ‘He had this five-year plan that he was intent on following to the letter, and the final point was “make my first million”. He would have been taking notes the whole time, asking for money-making tips.’
‘What about you?’
Kate swerved to avoid a tiny lizard that had just emerged from the undergrowth. ‘Me? I’ll never be rich.’
‘But you do want to be,’ he said. ‘I haven’t forgotten our lottery conversation.’
Feeling a bit stung, Kate hesitated before replying. ‘Honestly? It would be nice to have a bit of money, but only in a comfortable, no-outstanding-debts way, not in a super-yacht way. I mean, if Bram Van Dijk is a lesson in what happens when you earn too many millions, then I would rather not – even if his glasses do make him look like a Bond villain.’
They had reached the dinghy and Alex chuckled as he bent to unfasten the rope.
‘What?’ demanded Kate. ‘You’re always laughing at me.’
‘I know,’ he agreed. ‘But it’s always with affection.’
Having helped her into the small craft, Alex lowered the outboard motor and they set off slowly through the harbour. Kate chewed her lips, debating whether she should raise the subject of their kiss. It wasn’t as if Alex was acting any differently towards her, but she couldn’t deny there’d been a shift. Were they more than simply friends now, or was what happened last night just a blip? A result of being caught up in a moment that had now passed.
‘Do you need to be back in Hvar right away or can you spare a few hours?’ he said then.
Kate, who’d been feeling slightly despondent about the idea of their sea-and-road trip coming to an end, beamed at him.
‘I most certainly can. What did you have in mind?’
‘If I tell you that,’ he said, treating her to a smile, ‘I’ll ruin the surprise.’
Chapter 31
Once they had left Brač behind and were speeding across the water towards Hvar, Alex beckoned Kate over from her seat and gave her a lesson in how to operate the boat. Clammy handed with nerves, she clutched the small wheel so tightly at first that the skin around her knuckles turned white, but it didn’t take her long to get the hang of it. Soon she was whooping with delight every time they bounced up over a wave.
‘You’re a natural,’ he told her. ‘I should have taught you to drive the scooter as well.’
‘I much prefer this,’ she said loudly, shouting to be heard over the flapping sound of the rooftop deckchair. And it was true. Kate had barely been on a boat before this summer, but she felt safe out on the water, revelling in the freedom rather than longing for dry land.
Alex did not take over the controls until they had passed the western tip of Hvar, and Kate frowned in bemusement as she realised in which direction they were headed.
‘You’re taking us to Jerolim,’ she stated. ‘Was last night’s shower scene not enough for you?’
‘When you call it that,’ he replied, ‘it conjures up images of knife-wielding murderers.’
‘That would be less scary. But seriously, we’re not going back to the nudist bit, are we?’
Alex laughed. ‘No. Just trust me – you do trust me, don’t you?’
Kate did not even have to think. ‘You know I do.’
Instead of steering them towards the concrete jetty where the taxi boat had dropped her off on the day of that first, fateful visit, Alex continued around the island. Such was the clearness of the water that Kate could see the outline of every rock and stone as she peered over the side, while the shoreline was adorned with knotted trees and skeletal plants.
Alex had removed his hoodie during the journey and the blond hairs along his arms were lifting in the breeze. Drawn by an urge to reach across and stroke them, Kate shifted slightly, sliding each of her hands under her thighs.
‘We’ll drop anchor here,’ he said a few minutes later, killing the engine and heading towards the back of the boat. ‘It’s only a short swim – I’m guessing you brought your costume along in that humungous bag?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘You can get changed in the cabin, if you like?’
This would be her first time swimming out in the open water, and she wasn’t sure she was mentally prepared.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Alex, as Kate dithered by the cabin door. ‘I didn’t let the bears, snakes or killers get you last night, and I won’t let any sharks eat you either.’
‘Sharks?’
Alex raised a comical eyebrow.
‘You are in no way funny.’
Oh well, she thought, peeling off her mustard dress and pulling on her green swimsuit with its white polka-dots, if she did end up drowning, at least her body would be easy to spot.
Alex was already in the water when she re-emerged, which was not ideal, because it meant he would have full view of her bottom as she lowered herself down the slippery rope ladder.
‘Just jump,’ he called, as she froze with one leg over the side. ‘It’s deep. You won’t hit anything.’
‘I might hit you,’ she replied sweetly, squinting in his direction. She’d taken off her glasses to swim, and now regretted not packing her contact lenses.
‘Do you want me to catch you?’ he asked, which was humiliating enough of a suggestion to get her other foot off the deck.
‘If I die,’ she told him, her arms stretched out behind her clinging on to the outer rail, ‘then be sure to tell my brother that I never forgave him for the nudist beach thing. Tell him I happily took that grudge with me to my watery grave.’
Alex, who was treading water less than five feet away, shook his head slowly from side to side. ‘After three,’ he urged. ‘Come on – one, two, th—’
Kate jumped, her yelp of fear swallowed up by the same cold water that rushed into her mouth and eyes. Spluttering, she kicked hard for the surface, bursting through to find Alex only inches away, merman-like with his wet beard trailing across his face and neck.
‘Still alive?’ he checked, as Kate coughed and wheezed. Her hair had come loose from its band and adhered itself to her face, and she knew without needing to look that she had a swimsuit wedgie.
‘Never better,’ she said, as seawater dribbled out through her nostrils. From the stinging sensation in both eyes, she guessed her mascara must have run.
‘Right then,’ he replied, nodding in the direction of the shore. ‘Follow me.’
Swimming was not something that Kate did a lot of in London, and within a few minutes she was panting with the effort of staying afloat. Alex had streaked ahead at a crawl, but to his credit, he did stop every few lengths to check that she was still behind him. As Kate had no idea which part of land they were heading for, she focused instead on the red top of his baseball cap, which Alex was still wearing, and forced her tired limbs to keep moving. It looked as if the dense shrub that covered most of Jerolim was in even greater abundance on this side of the island, but as she drew nearer to land, Kate realised that there was a narrow cove scooped out from between two opposing banks of rock. It was towards this that Alex was steadily swimming and, buoyed by the thought of solid ground, Kate kicked her legs harder and powered after him.
‘Bloody hell,’ she gasped, staggering onto two feet and wincing as the sharp edges of stones dug into the soft flesh. ‘I’m knackered.’
Alex grinned at her from under the peak of his cap.
‘Yeah, it is a bit of a swim,’ he said. ‘I always think this beach is closer than it actually is – and the current can be strong when you reach the inlet.’
‘Tell me about it,’ groaned Kate, as she hobbled over to join him. ‘I knew I was unfit, but I didn’t realise things had got this bad. I might have to cross the island on foot so you can pick me up on the
opposite side.’
‘About that,’ he said, wrapping his arms around his raised knees as Kate wrung out her hair. ‘You can’t reach this bay on foot. I found it by accident when I was snorkelling one day.’
‘Oh,’ deadpanned Kate, dismayed that she would have no choice but to swim back to the boat.
‘There’s a sheer drop, see,’ he said, pointing over his shoulder at the crumbling rock face behind them. ‘You’d have to be a fool to try and climb up that.’
‘Or a goat,’ she said. ‘A goat could probably do it.’
‘I’ll be sure to bring one next time, in that case.’
‘Sorry for all the silly jokes,’ she muttered, stretching out her legs and staring morosely at the droplets of water on her bare toes. ‘I always have loved to laugh at inappropriate moments. It’s got me through many a scary situation.’
She had put her hand down on the white stones between them, and just for a moment, Alex pressed his own against it.
‘You don’t need to apologise,’ he said. ‘And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with cracking the odd joke, but I also know what it feels like to be scared. It’s why I brought you here, truth be told.’
Kate looked down at his hand; her own felt warm and safe beneath it.
‘I’m going to show you a trick that someone once taught me,’ he said. ‘It helped me, and I think it might do the same for you. Are you game?’
He was sitting so close to her that Kate could see the freckles across his nose. She had never noticed them before, had always been so distracted by that beard and hair, by those pale eyes of his that were fixed on her now.
‘Go on then,’ she said. ‘But it had better be more fun than Rummy.’
‘This isn’t the kind of game you win,’ he said. ‘First, we need to find as many smooth, flat pebbles as we can.’
‘Are we going to build a tower?’ she asked.
Alex picked up a large round stone and Kate was reminded of the moon they had stared at together the previous night.
‘This is what we’re after,’ he said. ‘Look for as many of these as you can.’
The Getaway: A holiday romance for 2021 - perfect summer escapism! Page 18