Page 43 of The Wedding Proposal

‘Great,’ Elle lied. She didn’t really want to nurture her disconcerting liking for Kayleigh by hanging out with her but she was unsure how to put that across without hurting feelings. ‘I’ve been swimming along at Tigne, in front of the Fortina Hotel, but Joseph told me about Font Ghadir. I was going to take the bus.’

‘Sounds fantastic.’

So Elle found herself waiting for Kayleigh outside the Sea Creek Hotel, having refused an invitation to go up to her room. The mere idea of seeing Kayleigh’s bed, where, presumably, Lucas made love to her, sent horror boiling through her veins.

Kayleigh emerged from the hotel with a big smile and a beach bag, chatting amiably as they secured a place on the big turquoise bus.

It wasn’t until they alighted that Elle was able to see that this coast, which she’d only caught a glimpse of in the early days of her stay, was quite different in character to the creek.

They had another busy road to cross but then they walked down a flight of concrete steps to a significant shelf of rock filled with sunbathers and, further along, a beach cafe on stilts. The open expanse of the Mediterranean rolled waves up to the rocks and the only boats visible were well out towards where the sea met the sky.

Elle gazed around. ‘This is amazing. Like a lunar landscape by the sea.’ A scampering breeze blew her hair across her face and she twisted it up, finding a clip in the pocket of her bag to secure it.

In two minutes their dresses were discarded in their bags and they were picking their way over the scorching rocks towards the sparkling waves in their swim things, glad to plunge in and exchange overwhelming heat for the tingling chill of salt water.

Clearing her eyes as she bobbed up, Elle swam clear of the rocks. She didn’t fancy scratches from toothy serrations or from the spiky black sea urchin colonies.

Leaving Kayleigh to her own devices, she began a brisk breaststroke. The sea was so lively that she felt a little as if she was swimming in an ‘endless’ pool, where the water flow cancels out any headway the swimmer makes. Her ears filled with the hiss and splash of the waves, the flutter of the wind and children shouting to one another as her shoulders and thighs grew pleasantly heavy with the exercise.

Finally, she let the waves carry her back to the ladder and hauled herself up, heading back to where she’d abandoned her bag. Kayleigh was already drying off in one of the last pockets of sun as the buildings lining the road above were now shading much of the beach.

Shaking out her towel, Elle sat down, blotting seawater from her hair and her skin. For a time she joined Kayleigh in quiet contemplation of the waves and the few small boats that had come close to shore.

Eventually, Kayleigh stirred. ‘Lucas told me about you and him planning to get married.’

Elle kept her eyes on the restless ocean. ‘It was a few years ago. The wedding idea never really got underway.’

‘But you were a couple.’

‘Yes.’ Elle turned to meet Kayleigh’s eyes. ‘I suppose it seems weird that Lucas and I are living in the same boat. I’m surprised that you haven’t created hell over it — most girlfriends would. But there’s nothing between us, now, honestly.’

Kayleigh regarded her with curiosity. After a moment, her head dropped back as she laughed. ‘I’m not “most girlfriends” and I wonder at your definition of “nothing”. Lucas must have felt it was right to tell me about you.’ Her smile broadened. ‘As you obviously know, he has a well-developed sense of what’s right. Or what he thinks is right. I think life’s too subjective for it to be clear what’s right and what’s wrong, most of the time, but he doesn’t see that, of course.’

‘No,’ Elle agreed, with feeling.

‘Do you still love him?’

Elle felt her face flood with heat. ‘Y-you honestly don’t have to worry about anything like that.’

Kayleigh pulled out her dress and slid it over her head. ‘I don’t worry. I think I’ll head back to my hotel, now.’

Elle was glad: Kayleigh was unsettling. ‘I’ll hang on here, move into the shade for a bit.’

She sat on for a long time, glumly uncomfortable with Kayleigh’s suspicions that Elle still had feelings for Lucas.

Which made her wonder, with a greasy swirl of self-doubt, whether that meant that Lucas suspected that she did.

Simon obviously had.

It was depressing to think that everyone might think the same. And be pitying her.

Chapter Twelve

Next morning, Elle got up early and in a bad mood.

Kayleigh was being so unfeasibly reasonable about Elle and Lucas living together on board the Shady Lady that it had made her feel guilty.

She sighed as she gazed into a fridge almost devoid of food. The galley not being over blessed with storage and her not having a car made frequent food shopping a necessity, but she’d been busy with more interesting things lately.

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