Page 25 of An Island Promise

‘How did it come up in conversation?’ Caleb frowned. ‘He’s not usually that talkative, particularly about personal stuff.’

‘Oh, really?’ That certainly wasn’t Belle’s memory of him; he’d been chatty and easy to talk to, happily sharing his innermost thoughts, but it wasn’t surprising considering the changes in his life since she’d last seen him. ‘He didn’t go into detail; I can’t even remember how we got onto the topic.’

There was no reason to say anything to Caleb about her relationship with Diego and yet it felt wrong to withhold the truth, but not as uncomfortable as blurting out, ‘Oh by the way, I had two incredible nights with your brother-in-law and have been fantasising about him ever since.’ That would be a ridiculous thing to admit, not to mention inappropriate and unprofessional. When she said it to herself like that she saw the truth in it. Her fantasies about Diego were akin to dreaming about having sex with a celebrity. They were a fantasy, and she was only now beginning to realise the depth of her fixation.

With darkness, the first guests arrived and were shown to their seats. While more people drifted in, a couple of waiters delivered popcorn and glasses of Cava. Only a smudge of blush remained low on the horizon and the screen at the far end of the terrace was shrouded in darkness. Anticipation prickled up Belle’s arms.

‘A movie night was Cara’s idea,’ Caleb said as the beanbag loungers began to fill up, ‘but having an outdoor cinema of my own has been my dream since I was a kid. As well as football,going to the cinema was my favourite thing to do. I loved the escapism and could forget about real life for a while. My gran gave me pocket money and I’d save up to buy a ticket. My older cousin worked at a cinema and used to sneak me into films I was too young for, because I was into sci-fi and fantasy, anything with things blowing up, dragons, zombies or horror that got my adrenalin pumping.’

‘So nothing quite as romantic as we’re showing tonight.’

‘No, but this’ – he opened his arms wide – ‘is perfect. I don’t thinkAlienwould go down quite so well.’ He gave her a wry smile.

‘Definitely not. Blood and guts and being scared shitless isn’t conducive to romance.’

‘Not for tonight but actually I would argue it is. As a teen I took complete advantage of watching a scary movie with a girl and then, ahem, “comforting” her when she got scared. But here at Serenity, we’re all about romance, dreams and making memories.’

‘You’re certainly doing that tonight.’

‘We’redoing that.’

It was generous of him to include her when all the hard work had already been done; she’d simply put what Cara had organised in place.

‘I think Cara should take most of the credit,’ she said.

The majority of the beanbags were filled now and glasses of Cava glinted in the candlelight. The smell of freshly made buttery popcorn sweetened the air.

‘Cara should take credit for a lot of things.’ Caleb leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘She came into my life a couple of years before I lost Paloma, and we may not have been friends for long but she knew what to say – or more importantly what not to say. When you suffer a loss like that you discover who your real friends are. Cara was right up there,supportive, selfless, someone I could lean on and talk to. She was my rock. Paloma’s family as well, but they were going through hell too and dealing with their own grief.’

‘It sounds like she turned up at exactly the right time.’

‘It worked both ways.’ Caleb turned to look at her. ‘She’d just got out of an abusive relationship and had fled Australia, intending to bum her way round Europe. She started on Ibiza, working for me for the summer season and never left. Although I was close to Paloma’s family and still am, the little there is of my own family is back in the UK. Cara’s folks are all the way in Oz. We found each other.’

The breeze rolling off the sea was fresh, rustling through the palms and pine trees lining the sides of the terrace. Belle hoped the guests snuggled in their beanbag loungers would be warm enough, but she made a mental note to source throws for the cooler evenings.

‘Did you always think of Cara like a sister?’

‘We both like women so there was never any attraction to confuse our friendship; plus she’s a little younger than me and had been through hell with a manipulative partner. While she helped me navigate my grief, I did my best to help her heal. I’m an only child but I imagine the love I felt and the way I wanted to protect her would have been much the same as if we were family.’ Caleb sat upright and shifted on the stone wall so he was facing her, a glimmer of a smile gracing his lips. ‘Did you think Cara and I were together?’

‘I had wondered but only because you talk about her with love. Now I understand.’

‘Friendship is all I’ve wanted since Paloma died.’ Caleb looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I put my bachelor days behind me when I met her and even after I lost her I didn’t want to go back to who I was. She changed me for the better and that’s something I can hold onto always.’

His openness floored her. His outlook was refreshing. To have loved someone so deeply and yet be able to hold on to the good parts of their relationship and not the anger or bitterness he must have felt at losing her so young was moving and admirable.

‘There’s been no one since?’ Belle asked quietly.

‘I had my heart broken in the cruellest way; I never want to risk that kind of pain again.’

‘Even if it means you’ll always be alone?’

‘Being on your own isn’t the worst thing in the world, not if it’s your choice.’

But it wasn’t your choice, Belle thought. The untimely death of his wife had instigated him being alone. Maybe it was self-preservation, or like her, the fear of committing to someone without being consumed by love. Or how she imagined being truly in love would feel.

‘Looks like we have a full house.’ Caleb stood and gestured to where the last group of four friends were being led to their seats. ‘Are you staying to watch?’

‘Yes, I want to make sure everything runs smoothly.’ Belle looked up at him. ‘Are you? Staying, I mean.’

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