She knew now that she would never, ever, make the same mistake again.
Kate put her glasses back on and gathered up her bag. ‘I’ll be downstairs,’ she said, and headed for the door before he had a chance to argue.
Nika was in the back office but there was no sign of her brother or Filippo, which she supposed was a blessing. As much as she wanted James gone, she did not want his departure to become a spectacle. Pushing open the hostel front door, Kate settled down on the steps outside to wait for him and was struck once again by how wonderfully free she felt. All the tightly coiled knots of anxiety were unspooling; the residual hurt and fear draining away. Everything felt softer somehow – even the sunlight that bathed the pavement seemed less abrasive.
Kate was exactly where she was meant to be, and she had become exactly who she was supposed to be too.
There was a sound behind her and she turned to see James emerge into the street. His still damp hair was sticking up at all angles and he looked despondent. Not quite beaten, but certainly subdued.
‘I was going to ask you to marry me,’ he said. ‘There’s a ring in my bag.’
Kate got to her feet. Her instinct was to comfort him, but she resisted. ‘I will forgive you, James,’ she told him.
Hope reignited his features.
‘You will?’
‘Yes, eventually. But I don’t love you – not anymore. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. I don’t know what else I can say.’
Her words had finally silenced him and after a moment he nodded, understanding at last that this was it; that their relationship was over.
Kate felt him take her hand, but she did not look at him, gazing instead across the rooftops and down to the tinsel-glint of water below. He had been her home once, but she had never belonged with him. They both knew that now.
James squeezed her fingers tightly one final time and then, so quietly that she would wonder later if he had said it at all, he whispered a single word.
‘Goodbye.’
Chapter 50
James had only just disappeared over the brow of the hill when Toby and Filippo emerged from their apartment. As it transpired, they’d been watching through the curtains, ready to rush over and offer assistance if the need arose. When Kate explained what had happened, Toby could barely contain his pride.
‘I knew it!’ he said triumphantly to his husband. ‘I knew she would see sense and stay with Alex.’
‘What?’ Kate exclaimed, feigning confusion, but Filippo silenced her with one of his dropped-chin expressions of pure scepticism.
‘We have known for a while, bambina – and we are very happy for you both.’
Kate was tempted to rush down to the marina immediately and tell Alex everything, but she settled on a text instead, asking him if he was free because she had an unexpected day off. The reply arrived less than a minute later and Toby clocked her smiling as she read it.
‘I was going to offer you breakfast,’ he said. ‘But I’m guessing whatever Alex has on the menu is far more exciting?’ Then, when Kate merely grinned. ‘Off you go, then.’
She found Alex waiting for her at the bottom of the long pathway that led down to the water. There was a smear of oil across his white T-shirt and another on his cheek.
‘So, guess what,’ she said as she approached, ‘I’m afraid our secret is well and truly out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother so happy to have won a bet in his life.’
‘I’m glad he isn’t the type to puff up his chest and tell me that I’d better treat you right or else,’ said Alex, affecting a ridiculous thuggish voice. He’d removed his Croatia cap and tucked it into the back pocket of his shorts, and Kate could see dark roots growing through beneath the blond dreadlocks.
‘Nah,’ she grinned. ‘He’s a pussycat – although, since meeting Siva, I’m beginning to think that saying needs a rethink.’
‘I’ve never been in the position of seeking approval from a sibling before,’ Alex went on. ‘I never met the extended family of the few girls I dated growing up.’
‘What about since you’ve been here?’
‘There haven’t been any – not in years.’
Kate did not ask why. She’d learned that when it came to Alex, it was better to remain quiet and wait for him to explain in his own time. He preferred to consider his responses.
‘James has gone,’ she said, and he nodded.
‘Are you OK?’
Kate’s only answer was to lean in and kiss him.
The boat was moored up not far from the main harbour in town, and once on board, Alex fired up the rather spluttery-sounding engine he’d been trying to fix all morning and steered them out past the Pakleni Islands to a spot in open water, far away from the prying eyes of anyone who happened to be sailing past. Kate had missed him the previous night and could think of little else but her need to be close to him again, to give herself to him, to forget all the drama with James and simply lose herself in pure sensation.
Alex was in no hurry, however, and tempered her enthusiasm by kissing her tenderly, his fingers stroking gently through her hair, over her chest and down towards her stomach. When Kate opened her eyes, she found that he’d not closed his own, but was using them to take in every inch of her.
‘It still amazes me that I can do this,’ he murmured. ‘That I can hold you in my arms, that I can kiss you here’ – he pressed his lips softly against her cheekbone – ‘and here,’ he whispered, trailing his tongue across her throat. The curls of his beard tickled her bare skin, sending shivers of pleasure from Kate’s toes all the way up to her shoulders.
‘Well, don’t let that stop you doing it,’ she teased, sighing with contentment as he continued to cover her face with featherlight kisses. The pace of her heart had quietened, but her desire still burnt red hot inside. Kate knew what she was feeling was more than a purely physical need; it was an overwhelming sense of rightness, of being in the right place with the right person. She was stirred, yet safe; her once-solid wall of vulnerability little more than dust on the floor of the boat. Every sense was heightened, every colour extra bright.
‘Do you feel it?’ she whispered. ‘Us?’
Alex nodded, his gaze more intent now. The body that had been soft and supple beside her hardening as she spoke. Just as he had the first time he’d laid with her in the cabin of his boat, Alex manoeuvred himself beneath her and put his hands on either side of her waist, lifting her up until she faced him. A moment passed where Kate thought he was going to tell her something, and for once she willed him to speak, pausing in her movements only to exhale with surprise as their bodies connected. Within seconds, she was utterly lost.
‘Would you have come to find me at the hostel if I hadn’t messaged you this morning?’ she asked him afterwards, when they were lying together, slick with sweat, on top of the tangled blankets.
‘Probably.’ He grinned. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve left my wrench there and I need it to finish fixing the engine.’
‘Charming!’ Kate hooked a bare leg over his.
Alex returned the pressure. ‘Truth?’
She smiled. ‘Always.’
‘I was on the verge of setting off when I heard from you. Truth is, I wanted to tell you to choose me, not him.’
Kate propped herself up on an elbow. ‘Really?’
Reaching out a finger, Alex tapped her nose. ‘Really.’ He paused. ‘The thing is, I don’t do . . . this. I actively try not to develop feelings for people, not since . . . Well, it’s been a long time. But for some reason when I met you, that changed. I tried to ignore it at first, but somehow, there you always were.’
‘You make me sound like a mosquito,’ she replied, buzzing gently into his ear.
‘That day you came across the skip and I drove over and found you half-in and half-out of it, covered in dust and all excited over a pile of broken furniture, I knew I was in trouble. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I volunteered to help with all the interior stuff at the host
el purely so I could stay nearby. I turned down other work to do it – other paid work,’ he added, seeing Kate’s look of flattered dismay. ‘I knew you were still hankering after your ex, but that was all right, because it meant nothing would ever happen. That I could admire you from a distance, see?’
‘And then we went to Brač,’ she prompted, running her hand through the soft wiry hair on his chest.
‘And you kissed me,’ he said, smiling at the memory. ‘That gave me hope.’
‘I’m sorry if I was giving you confusing signals,’ she said. ‘I knew there was something happening between us, but I wasn’t sure what it was or even what to do with those feelings, if that makes any sense? I was conflicted, because I’d convinced myself that winning James back was the endgame. It was only after Robyn showed up and winkled the truth out of me that I knew for sure. In fact, on the subject of Robyn, I should send her a text, let her know that she can stop feeling guilty about telling James where I was.’
As she sat up and began rummaging for her phone, however, Alex leaned across and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her over until she was lying on top of him. Kate thought he was going to kiss her, but instead, he simply stopped and stared, his pale-blue eyes silver in the darkened cabin.
‘If we do this, Kate,’ he said softly, intently. ‘I want us to do it properly.’
‘This as in us?’
‘Yes, this as in us.’ He stroked a curl off her face with such tenderness that Kate’s heart seemed to skip a beat.
‘And you believe we can?’ she murmured, loath to taint the moment with questions, but needing to know the answers. ‘Obviously, I’m based here in Croatia at the moment, and will be for a while now thanks to Bram Van Dijk, but I’ll have to go home to England at some point, even if it’s just temporarily.’
Alex did not clam up as she’d assumed he would, but he did close his eyes for second, shutting her out while he contemplated his reply. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘There will be a lot of decisions we’ll need to make further down the line, but I do want to be a part of them. I want us to work.’
Kate couldn’t hold on to her tears and blinked helplessly as they tumbled down her cheeks. ‘I’m only crying because I’m happy,’ she whispered, as Alex caught them with his thumbs. ‘I’m weird like that.’
‘You are,’ he agreed cheerfully, kissing her wet face. ‘But I wouldn’t want you any other way. You’re perfect.’
‘Nobody’s perfect,’ she protested sleepily, ready to lose herself again. ‘But at least you know everything now. There are no more surprises lurking, I promise. No more ex-boyfriends likely to turn up begging for my hand in marriage.’
Alex fell silent for a moment, his expression set. ‘There are things I need to tell you,’ he said, and Kate could feel his heart racing below her own. ‘Things you need to know about me, about my past. I want you to hear it all before you make any decisions, before you decide if this is what you want.’
Kate moved her lips to his. ‘Then tell me,’ she urged. ‘I want to know you, Alex. I want to know everything about you.’
‘I will,’ he murmured, between kisses. ‘Soon. I promise.’
Alex’s hands stroked her back, his touch featherlight and his breath warm against her neck. Kate arched against him; she felt almost drunk with desire.
‘When?’ she whispered, her breath shallow as she felt him there, wanting her, needing her.
‘Tonight,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you everything tonight.’
The boat rocked gently as the two of them became lost in one another, the water surrounding them dulled by the grey clouds above. In the far distance, a low rumble was gathering pace; sea birds called out a warning, high and shrill, while in the cabin, tools lay scattered. Forgotten.
Chapter 51
Drowsy after hours of lovemaking and uplifted by a spirited phone call with Robyn, Kate made her slow way back to the hostel later that afternoon. Alex had surprised her by suggesting the two of them have dinner together in town that night, instead of cooking something over the camping stove on his boat as they usually did. A summer storm was headed towards Hvar and the sea would soon become rough – far too choppy for either of them to get any sleep if they stayed on board. So tonight, Kate had invited him to share her bed on dry land for the first time.
The wind blowing the dust along the pavements carried the cold edge of imminent rain and Kate shivered as she pushed open the hostel door and hurried upstairs to her room. Having showered and changed into cropped jeans and plain black T-shirt, she changed the bedding and gave the room a quick spruce before heading to the lounge area. The Tiki Bar and barbecue had been closed for the night on account of the incoming storm but, never one to be hampered by something as innocuous as a spot of bad weather, Toby had set up a serving station for his experimental beverages on one end of the long wooden dining table.
‘Hey,’ said Kate, taking a seat on the bench. There was a young Japanese couple watching something on a shared iPad a few seats away, while a dark-haired woman who looked vaguely familiar sat opposite, one of Toby’s lurid-coloured cocktails in front of her. A few of the other guests were piled in artful heaps on the sofas around the TV, chatting animated-ly over a music channel that currently featured a lithe and much-younger Justin Timberlake singing about a river.
‘Something to wet your whistle?’ asked Toby, holding up a beer.
‘No, thanks.’ Kate took a half-empty bottle of water out of her bag and waved it at him.
‘Already drunk on lurve?’ he joked.
‘What are you, twelve?’
‘Sorry,’ Toby said to the woman, who was listening in bemusement to their exchange. ‘We’re always like this, have been since we were kids.’
‘Oh,’ she said, as understanding dawned. ‘You’re brother and sister? I see the resemblance now – red hair and green eyes.’
‘We also share the same daft sense of humour,’ added Kate, wondering where she had seen this woman before. If they’d been introduced on a previous occasion, then surely she would have remembered her strong Welsh accent.
The woman smiled. ‘It’s nice that the two of you are so close. I wish I could say the same.’
‘Angela here is actually on the island looking for her brother,’ Toby explained. ‘Can you tell Kate what you told me?’ he asked. ‘It’s quite some story.’
‘Well,’ said Angela, taking the paper umbrella out of her drink and turning it over in her hands. ‘My brother has been missing for a while – ten years now, in fact – but a week or so ago I received a message from someone who thought they’d seen him, here in Hvar.’
A memory was tugging at the very edges of Kate’s subconscious, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
‘I did an interview months ago for one of those real-life magazines, you know the ones. I don’t read them myself, but I know a lot of people do and, well, I was determined that this year I would find him. I was willing to try whatever it took. Someone picked up that magazine here in this hostel and read my story, and then, according to the girl who got in touch, the very next day she saw someone in town that she thought could be him.’
‘Isn’t that crazy?’ said Toby, taking a swig of beer. ‘What are the chances?’
Kate was not listening; she was focused on the woman, Angela.
‘So, this girl followed him around for a while, this man, and eventually asked him if she could take a photo, which he refused. She took one anyway, though,’ said Angela. ‘It’s blurred and half his face is obscured by his hand, so I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think it could be him. I think it is Josh.’
‘Oh my god!’ exclaimed Kate. ‘That’s it! I knew I recognised you,’ she said to Angela. ‘I read your story, too. It was probably me who brought that magazine here in the first place – I packed a whole stack of them in my hand luggage to read on the flight over back in May.’
Angela had shredded the paper umbrella; there were remnants of it all over the long table.
‘
And your brother’s name is Josh?’ said Kate, feeling a trickle of excitement. ‘Can I see the photo of him?’
Toby looked at Kate enquiringly as Angela took out her phone. ‘Bother,’ she said, showing them the blank screen. ‘Battery’s gone. It’s so old this thing – keeps dying on me.’
‘What did he look like?’ asked Kate. ‘The guy in the picture?’
‘Longish blond hair, tanned skin – bit like I imagine a surfer to look,’ said Angela. ‘It was taken on a beach – I could make out kayaks in the background. I’ll just go up to my room and find my charger,’ she added. ‘Then I can show you.’
Kate smiled, waiting until Angela had disappeared through the outer door before turning to Toby.
‘I think I might know who her brother is!’
Toby’s eyes widened. ‘Who?’
‘You know that bloke who hires out kayaks down on Pokonji Dol?’
Toby shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Well, I do. He’s a good friend of Alex’s and calls himself Joe but sounds exactly like the bloke in this photo. The thing is, Alex has mentioned a Josh to me a few times, but always becomes a bit cagey whenever I ask any questions about him. What if this Joe is actually Josh and has asked Alex to keep his real identity a secret? That would make sense, given that he’s been missing all these years.’
‘If that’s true then you have to tell Angela,’ said Toby, but Kate wasn’t so sure.
‘Isn’t that betraying Alex’s trust?’
The Getaway: A holiday romance for 2021 - perfect summer escapism! Page 30