Page 17 of An Island Promise

Caleb nodded knowingly and glanced away. ‘I would in a heartbeat despite having all of this.’

Sadness coated his words so Belle decided not to probe any further. Business and pleasure muddied the waters; she’d had first-hand experience with Isaac and she’d vowed never to do that again – not that she thought anything romantic would happen, she just didn’t want to cross a line with her boss and become overly personal. She told herself it wasn’t unusual for him to have a drink with his staff, so it wasn’t as if he’d singled her out, plus she’d taken Cara’s place who he was obviously close to.

They lapsed into silence. Whispered conversations spiralled into the night from couples snuggled together further along the terrace. She was acutely aware of Caleb’s jean-clad thigh just millimetres away from hers. Serenity was all about love and romance and her own ideas for utilising the outside spaces leaned towards that vibe.

‘I love how I’ve seen such a different side to the island,’ she said, needing to fill the silence. ‘It’s not just about clubbing and having a good time.’

‘No, it’s not,’ Caleb said, ‘but that’s what drove me here.’

‘It’s the reason why we came to Ibiza too.’

‘I went on a club 18–30 holiday to Magaluf in the late nineties.’ He winced and shook his head. ‘I’m surprised I remember anything. I was eighteen, went with a couple of mates, you know the freedom of the first holiday away from your folks. My mum travelled a lot for work so I lived with my gran who was loving but pretty strict.’ A smile crept across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes and forming dimples on his stubbled cheeks.

‘What did you get up to?’

He laughed and shook his head again. ‘What didn’t I get up to? Let’s just say I had a damn good time. The club reps were only a year or two older than me, but they were bolder, funnier, sexier. They just swooped in and pulled girls I fancied like they were superheroes. I remembered thinkingI want some of that. So before the end of the holiday I signed up for a holiday rep training session back in the UK. My gran wanted me to go to university so we compromised and I said I’d take a gap year, go travelling first then work as a holiday rep through the summer season in Ibiza, but you know.’ He shrugged.

‘You never left. Your gran was okay with that?’

‘Not at first. But as well as playing hard I worked hard too, proved myself out here, earned shitloads of commission, got bigger and better gigs working for the super clubs. I managed to convince her that university was unnecessary when I was already learning everything I needed. I’m just mighty relieved that it was back in the day when there was no social media or smart phones to document everything. There’s zero evidence of my hedonistic days beyond a handful of blurry photos.’

‘Unlike me having every bloody thing documented.’

‘The one advantage to being forty-two,’ he said with a glint in his eyes. ‘I started working in Ibiza in the late nineties right at the end of the really crazy period. Things are different now, back then anything and everything happened.’

‘It seemed pretty insane when I was here in July 2013.’

‘The summer of 2013,’ Caleb said slowly, his eyes drifting off towards the sea. The sunset had faded leaving moonlit darkness and a fresh clear night. ‘That was a year to remember. Lots of changes and a slightly weird vibe.’

‘Really? All I remember was having the best time.’

‘You were an Ibiza virgin, right?’ He glanced back at her with a sly smile. ‘You would have had the best time and been none the wiser. That was the year shedloads of new parties cropped up. Pacha celebrated forty years but they mixed things up too. Most people had an epic time but on the ground, the people working behind the scenes felt the strain – lots of new places competing for clubbers meant not everyone did well.’

‘It was ten years ago; how do you remember something like that? I imagine all the summers would roll into one.’

‘Generally they do, but that summer was special because I got married.’ He suddenly had that lost look about him again, pain folding across his face. He breathed deeply and met her eyes. ‘But as it was your first time in Ibiza you’d have noticed none of that and had the time of your life.’

‘Yeah, I was drunk most of the time and didn’t see much of Ibiza beyond pool parties and the inside of a few bars and clubs.’ Belle gazed at the flickering light from the candle in the glass holder on the table. A wave of nostalgia washed over her. ‘I think we only made it to a beach once or twice. The focus was on drinking, partying and having a good time. It felt so simple at twenty-one. I’m not sure I thought of Ibiza as anything beyond having a pool and club scene and being filled with young, beautiful people. I take it that’s what made you want to stay?’ She picked up her drink and took a sip of the smooth, fruity gin.

‘Yeah, to begin with it was the lifestyle. There’s a real joy to earning money while socialising and I proved to be rather adept at it.’ He paused and glanced away for a moment,looking wistful. ‘My mum is a well-known and respected foreign correspondent – I took her work ethic even if the career I followed was vastly different. My dad was never a part of our lives. I felt guilty being far from my gran, but once she realised I was onto a good thing here, she selflessly encouraged me to stay. I’d got used to hot days and sultry nights, not waking before midday and working till the early hours. There was no job that appealed to me back home. I was good at what I did, savvy and entrepreneurial – something else I took from my mum – and invested in projects which brought in more money and success, plus I became friends with this incredibly successful guy, Eddie Rosen, who’d established himself as a big player in San Antonio. I also fell in love.’

Caleb’s phone ringing took them both by surprise and stopped the question Belle was about to ask.

‘Sorry, I need to take this.’ Caleb scrambled off the seat and paced away as he answered the phone.

The question ‘is the woman you fell in love with the one you married?’ never made it past Belle’s lips. She wondered if he’d said more than he’d meant to. She was also left wondering what had happened with his wife. He’d fallen in love and got married, and he wore a wedding ring, but there was no evidence of a wife around – it was all a bit of a mystery.

This was the first time their conversation had become personal. She’d vowed to keep a professional distance with her work colleagues, her boss in particular, yet it felt easy talking to him. And that was all they’d been doing, talking. There was nothing wrong in having a professional yet friendly relationship.

Deciding to head back to Spirit, Belle left the comfortable depths of the love seat, yet she was unable to rid herself of the worry that she was attracted to Caleb.Because he’s a good-looking man, she reasoned. He was older than the men she usually went for, not that age necessarily mattered. It was fineto appreciate him for his good looks and easy-going nature, but that was all it was – an appreciation from afar, because she was certainly not going to go down that road again.

Belle didn’t see Caleb again until the following afternoon, when he found her in the office at Spirit.

‘Sorry to have left abruptly last night. Cara phoned. She was starting her day while I was ending mine. She’d been working on something but it’s madness when she’s across the other side of the world and has enough to be dealing with. I suggested I pass it on to you.’ He placed a couple of printed sheets and flyers on the desk in front of her. ‘She was in talks with Ushuaïa working out a VIP deal for an outdoor club experience for our guests. I’ll put you in touch with Diego to iron out the details.’

Belle’s heart momentarily stilled as the name Diego evoked emotions and memories.

Caleb scribbled a name and number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. ‘He’ll be expecting your call, but any questions just check with me. Hopefully it should all be straightforward.’

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