The Secret Cove in Croatia

by Julie Caplin

  Siri sniffed and settled herself into the seat opposite. ‘Was there any doubt?’

  Maddie giggled. ‘You terrified the poor man into it.’

  ‘He needed to know what he’s been missing all these years …’ her voice dropped with sex siren huskiness ‘… and I can tell you he’s been sadly neglected.’

  Nick, who’d appeared behind her bringing up a pot of coffee, raised his eyebrows at Maddie. ‘I think I’ve been neglected.’ He attempted puppy dog eyes, putting the cafetière down in front of the two women.

  Maddie burst out laughing. ‘Not recently you haven’t, you cheeky sod.’

  ‘Where is he?’ asked Nick. ‘Is the poor chap still alive? I’m about to dish up breakfast; who wants one of my famous bacon butties?’

  ‘Me, please,’ said Siri. ‘I am starving. And Douglas –’ her lips stretched in a smug feline smile ‘– he’s going to need quite a few. Needs to get his strength back.’

  ‘Siri! You are awful.’

  ‘I know,’ she replied with a delighted grin.

  ‘I know how he feels,’ said Nick with a mournful look that had Maddie throwing a napkin at him.

  ‘You’re more than man enough; stop complaining and go and get my breakfast.’

  ‘See, henpecked too.’ Nick wiped a weary hand across his brow that had both the women laughing again. ‘Ah, here he is. Morning, Douglas.’

  ‘Morning,’ Douglas trilled, looking extremely chipper and nothing like the shadow of a man that Siri had insinuated. In fact, Maddie thought he glowed with happiness. In a gesture of tenderness that made her own heart miss a beat, he came up behind Siri and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, rubbing his cheek against hers. Siri turned and smiled up at him. Yes, Maddie’s heart was pooling into a soggy mess on the floor.

  Halfway through breakfast, as they were all chatting through their plans for the day, Douglas began to pat his top shirt pocket and pulled out his phone.

  ‘Simon, hi.’

  Around the table everyone stilled.

  ‘Today?’ Douglas looked at his watch.

  And, with that, the atmosphere around the table dampened as each of them receded into their own thoughts at the unhappy realisation everything was about to change.

  To his shame, Nick found himself checking his cabin to make sure that there was no clue that Maddie had spent the last three nights in his bed. He hated the thought of eradicating all sign of her but he was conscious of Tara’s return and all the attendant histrionics that could follow. He knew Tara well enough to know that she was quite capable of throwing a scene and upscaling it into a three-act drama.

  Maddie had gone to pick up Ivan from Stari Grad, refusing his offer to accompany her. His last view of her, standing tall at the controls of the launch, had sent a shiver of foreboding down his spine. This really was it. Everything was about to change. But, he reminded himself, only for a few more days. He’d change his flight so that he could travel back to the UK with Maddie and then they’d make plans for the rest of the summer.

  Siri had retreated to her cabin and Douglas had busied himself catching up with his office and his emails. For the first time in a couple of days, Nick was back to that feeling of not having anything to do, hence wandering around his cabin, which was full of reminders of Maddie. He collected up a T-shirt she’d left on his chair, the toothbrush that had taken up residence in the glass by the sink and the floral shower gel that perfumed the bathroom. It wasn’t much to show for four idyllic days.

  When Ivan returned with Maddie, Nick helped her weigh anchor and together they stood at the rail.

  ‘I’m going to miss this little cove,’ said Maddie, putting a hand on top of Nick’s gripping the metal.

  ‘Me too.’ He turned her towards him and kissed her on the mouth with gentle reverence, trying to convey how he felt about her. ‘This isn’t the end. It’s just a …’

  Maddie exhaled. ‘I feel like the fairy tale is over. We’re going back to real life and it won’t ever be the same again.’

  ‘It will, I promise you. We only have to pretend for a few days. I’ve been thinking, when we get a decent Wi-Fi connection back in Hvar, I’m going to change my flight so that I can fly back with you.’

  ‘What, to Birmingham?’

  ‘Why not? It makes no difference to me. Gatwick is hardly down the road for me. I’ve got a long journey home once I land, whatever I do.’

  ‘OK.’ Maddie lifted a hand to his face, stroking the stubble under her fingers. He turned his face to press a kiss into her palm. For a second she wanted to close her hand and hold onto it, like capturing a butterfly.

  ‘And …’ he paused, lifting a hand to cup her face, his blue eyes solemn ‘… then maybe you’d come up to the farm for a visit, for a month or something, see how you find it.’

  Her heart expanded in her chest. ‘I think I’d like that.’

  Together they gazed out at the water as the engines began to throb and the boat slowly began to move towards the hidden mouth of the bay. Holding her gaze, Nick moved sideways so that he was shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip with her, as if he needed to make the most of all the contact he could with her before they arrived in Hvar. ‘You could …’ he wrinkled his nose ‘… you could still visit my cabin.’

  With a shake of her head, she turned her head, looking out to the open sea. ‘I don’t want to skulk about.’

  ‘I don’t really blame you. You deserve better.’

  ‘Yeah. I do.’

  ‘But I don’t want to upset Tara. We might have broken up but she doesn’t deserve to have her nose rubbed in it. Even though she dumped me, I think she’d take rejection hard. She’s not as self-confident as she appears, you know.’

  ‘Which makes me like you all the more. Choosing not to be a bastard,’ said Maddie, not as convinced as Nick that Tara was some fragile flower that needed to be protected. She certainly had some issues but there was a scrappiness about her that suggested Tara would fight like a cat to keep what she wanted and would do anything to stop being bettered by someone else.

  Maddie was pretty sure that if Tara found out that he’d chosen a strapping, broad, common girl over her she would find it a huge insult and hell would have no fury.

  And goodness only knew what was going to happen with the Cory, Douglas and Siri triangle.

  As the boat neared the harbour of Hvar, where Ivan had managed to secure a mooring, Maddie noticed Siri pacing around the deck.

  ‘You OK?’ Just watching her walking towards the guard rail and then back again made Maddie feel jittery. Douglas had taken himself off to the bow of the boat and stood with his shoulders hunched up to his ears.

  ‘Yes. No. Yes. No.’ Siri glanced towards Douglas, her face strained and white. ‘Yes. Terrified. I’m worried that Cory will do the sob story bit and Douglas will feel sorry for her. She’s been texting him but I’ve no idea what she’s said or how he’s responded. How about you?’

  Maddie twisted her mouth and sighed. ‘As Tara dumped Nick, I’d like to say I’m not quite so worried but I feel …’ She wrapped her arms around her stomach. ‘I don’t like it, but we’ve agreed that we’ll keep this to ourselves. And I do … I do see the sense in it. No point rocking the boat.’ Her words belied the uncomfortable knotted sensation in her stomach which seemed to tighten with each wave they crested on the way into the harbour.

  ‘What about Nick?’ asked Siri, looking around for him.

  ‘He’s on the top deck, reading.’ And the last time she’d been up there he seemed to be on exactly the same page. He’d brushed his fingers against hers with a small tense smile.

  As they neared the port the number of yachts and craft increased, converging on the harbour. It felt like a loud, frantic juvenile party after the quiet serenity of Tajna bay, an insult adding to the injury of having to leave the quiet secret cove. Siri joined Maddie and Nick in putting the fenders out over the side of the boat, but none of them spoke, all working in careful silence.

  I
van backed the gulet into a slot between two much larger yachts to take up their prize mooring on the main promenade. Conscious of the interested eyes of the tourists, Maddie jumped off the stern, thankfully feeling almost like a pro as she tied off the lines around the heavy cast iron mooring posts. She almost had to push one interested holidaymaker out of the way as he tried to take a photo and he was quickly followed by a second, all keen to see how the other half lived. My goodness, it was crowded. After Stari Grad, Hvar’s bustle and cosmopolitan buzz came as a shock to the senses. The contrast was stark. Everyone here seemed younger, shinier and more alert, their eyes constantly scanning for the next new thing, when they were able to tear their gazes from their phones. She wanted to blink to shut it all out. Colour, noise and busyness on all sides. This time they were right in the thick of it. Along the row of boats, enormous-hulled superyachts reared up from the waterfront like monolithic icebergs dominating the quayside, attracting the attention of crowds of tourists mooching along in swarm-like configurations while in search of the smartest restaurant.

  As soon as they were berthed, Maddie decided to head to the supermarket to stock up on water and beer.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ said Nick. Neither acknowledged that it was a delaying tactic to avoid being on the boat when the others arrived.

  As they walked through the crowds side by side, as close as they could without touching, his hand brushed Maddie’s. He wanted to snatch it up and hang onto her, swamped by a sudden fear that she’d be separated from him in the busy throng of tourists. After the peace of the cove, Nick felt hemmed in, claustrophobic and more out of place than ever. Anyone would think he was mad but just now he longed for them both to be up on Starbridge Fell, Rex at his feet and even … he smiled at his contrariness … no, perhaps not in the pouring rain.

  Out of the corner of his eye he caught a blur of filmy scarlet fabric teased by the sea breeze rising in the air as a small figure burst into action.

  ‘Nick!’ The shriek gave him the barest of warnings before Tara appeared in front of them, all tumbling hair, big eyes and bright red lipstick. He gave a quick sidelong glance at Maddie, his heart clenching at her suddenly impassive expression. The urge to grab her hand hit him again with a deepening sense of foreboding.

  Tara dropped her case with a dramatic clatter. ‘Oh, Nick, Nick.’ Repeating his name like a fervent prayer, she clasped her hands in front of her with a look of adoration and relief, before launching herself at him with the determined aim of a tactical warhead. He tried to catch Maddie’s eye but she looked past him, the distance between them opening up before his eyes.

  For a moment he felt suffocated by the flimsy fabric floating up into his face as Tara rained kisses over his cheek and neck and he wanted to reach out to Maddie to save him.

  ‘Nick, Nick! Oh, Nicky, darling.’ She linked her thin arms behind his neck, one of her nails inadvertently scratching him. ‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much, darling.’

  Somehow she’d managed to drape her tiny body over him and was not going to be detached by any means, her legs wrapped around his waist like a small determined bushbaby clinging to a tree.

  Over her shoulder he caught sight of Maddie’s narrowed and suddenly expressionless eyes and sent her a what-the-hell-do-I-do? look. He did his best to disentangle Tara, pulling his head to an awkward angle in a bid to avoid her enthusiastic kisses as if dodging an overfriendly dog trying to lick him to death. Every time he unpeeled an arm or a leg, another part of her would clamp onto him. Maddie’s expression was one of amusement at first but, the longer he battled to pull himself free, it changed to sour repulsion before finally settling into stone-faced as she folded her arms, the rest of her body stiff and awkward.

  It fired up his resolve. ‘Tara.’ Using a firmer hand, he finally unstuck her and put her down on the pavement but, almost as soon as she had both feet on the ground, she immediately curled her arm around his with surprisingly vice-like strength and leaned against him.

  ‘Darling. What’s the matter?’

  He looked over at Maddie, who was stiffer than ever now. Tara caught his gaze and whipped her head around. He felt the tension in her body as she turned around and said to Maddie, ‘Did you want something?’

  Maddie pressed her lips together, her eyes dark and fixed, her mouth clamped shut in a fixed line. She lifted her chin and looked at Nick. Like a complete idiot, he hesitated a second too long. Maddie gave him a disdainful look, wheeled around and marched off with quick, what he was well aware were, angry fuck-you strides. He caught his lip between his teeth as he watched her go, his heart heavy, almost expecting the sea of tourists in her path to part.

  They’d talked about this but he hadn’t quite appreciated how shit it would feel. Even telling himself that he’d told Maddie in so many different ways how much he cared for her wasn’t any sort of consolation. He’d asked her to come to stay in Northumberland with him. She had to know how he felt about her. But suddenly he didn’t feel very confident.

  He looked down at Tara, who was looking up at him with that familiar adoring expression and immediately he felt a pang of guilt. Oh, double shit. He was in so much trouble. She was a complicated, troubled woman and he owed her common courtesy and kindness.

  ‘Hey, Tara. How are you?’ His attempt at nonchalance almost stuck in his throat. The words came out stilted and awkward.

  ‘Oh, darling Nicky, I’m so much better for seeing you. I’ve missed you so much and I felt so bad that we argued. You didn’t answer any of my texts. I’ve been so worried, thinking that you don’t love me any more.’

  The words stalled in his throat as she looked up at him, her huge eyes shimmering with tears.

  Before he could say that he hadn’t had any texts, she gripped at his arm. ‘I wasn’t very nice to you, was I?’ Her chest heaved and she clutched at her throat, her beautiful face crumpling. The obvious drama of the scene was starting to draw the gaze of the tourists around them.

  ‘You … you …’ He had to say this. ‘You made it pretty clear that things were over between us.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, darling. I was just upset. It felt like you didn’t care any more. And I said things I didn’t mean. It’s been awful without you. I’ve never been so unhappy in my life.’ Her voice rose and quite a few people stopped and turned their way.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nick swallowed.

  ‘I am never going to leave you like that again,’ she declared in such a loud voice that he winced. A few people standing nearby smiled at her words.

  ‘Nicky, darling.’ She paused, her eyes fixed on his face, and then in front of everyone she dropped to her knees. ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’

  Chapter 28

  ‘Oh, Tara.’ Cory, standing behind her, clapped her hands together and jumped up and down on the spot next to Simon, whose startled scowl was quickly replaced with an amused smirk. ‘That’s so romantic.’

  Around them the quayside erupted with cheers as some people nearby began clapping and others took photos on their phone.

  Nick’s brain was mush, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and his feet rooted to the spot. A hot flush burst over him, the heat climbing steadily up his neck to his face.

  Tara didn’t move but stayed in place, looking up at him, her eyes shining.

  He felt sick as voices in the crowd began to call out.

  ‘Come on, man, say yes.’

  ‘If you don’t, I will.’

  ‘Say yes.’

  ‘Say yes.’

  ‘Say yes.’ The refrain was taken up, quickly becoming a chant.

  ‘Get up,’ he muttered out of the side of his mouth. ‘This is embarrassing.’

  Her smile sweetened. ‘All you have to do is say yes.’

  ‘Tara …’

  The chant was growing stronger.

  Nick didn’t even dare look round; his heart was banging hard in his chest.

  Her mouth quivered. ‘Nick. Don’t do this to me. You love me. Yo
u know you do. I love you.’

  He couldn’t embarrass her in front of all these people. Image was everything to Tara; he couldn’t be that cruel. It could all be sorted out later when they were on the boat. But how did he avoid embarrassing her in front of all these people without lying or making a promise he had no intention of keeping?

  He pulled her to her feet. He had to be honest with her. He had to tell her it was over.

  But, before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around him and mashed her lips against his, her hand clamping his head in position in an endless pastiche of a kiss. His teeth were forced into the soft flesh on the inside of his mouth as she ground her mouth against his in a show of surprising strength.

  Another loud cheer went up around them as everyone assumed the answer was yes when he finally disentangled himself, too shocked to say anything.

  ‘Congratulations,’ screamed Cory and kissed Tara on each cheek. ‘I have to be a bridesmaid.’

  ‘Of course you will be,’ said Tara with a little skip, linking her arm through Nick’s, beaming around at the people still taking photos.

  ‘Over here, Tara,’ called a voice. Both he and Tara looked towards the voice, straight into the lens of a big black camera. Nick was grateful that his dark sunglasses hid his furious glare but Tara immediately stopped and threw out one hip in what he recalled was her model-being-papped pose. ‘Congratulations.’ The photographer took a succession of quick photos before, with a cheery wave, he disappeared into the crowd.

  Dear God, could this get any worse? Nick tugged at Tara’s arm, trying to get back to the boat as quickly as possible, his brain threatening to explode with all the ramifications, but she’d dropped his arm and was now gaily chatting to Cory, her hands waving vivaciously, and he caught fragments of the conversation.

  ‘Summer wedding, although winter …’

  ‘Velvet cloak. Midnight-blue.’

  ‘Gorgeous with your colouring.’

  ‘Flowers …’

  Simon handed him the handle of Tara’s pull-along case, saying in a flat voice, ‘Congratulations.’ The other man’s knowing smirk and supercilious attitude had slipped.