Page 32 of An Island Promise

‘Yes, of course.’ Belle stood up too and walked with him to the corner of the restaurant. ‘They look happy dancing the night away.’

‘I’ll pick you up from Spirit at two tomorrow.’ He leaned close and kissed her on each cheek. His hands on her arms, firm and comforting and wanted all at the same time, made her tingle and flooded her core with warmth. His lips left her cheek but he kept hold of her and he was still so close that if he leaned down slightly their lips would touch. A dusting of dark stubble flecked with grey framed full lips, and the way they were slightly open, sent her heart fluttering. She shifted her gaze upwards and their eyes locked momentarily before his gaze dropped to her lips. He shifted closer and she felt the caress of his breath and then… Something changed. His focus flicked back to her eyes and he dropped his hands from her arms as he stepped back. ‘Tomorrow,’ he mumbled as he strode off, leaving her as confused as she was aroused.

Belle turned back to the wedding party below, the terrace a swirl of summer colour after a day full of love and hope. Yet all she could think about beyond the imprint of Caleb’s lips on her skin was that after making someone else’s day the happiest of their lives, he was heading home alone and not to the woman he still loved.

19

When Caleb said goodnight to Belle it hadn’t been the first time he’d kissed her cheeks, but it had been the first time it meant something and the first time he’d considered doing more. His insides somersaulted at the feel of her smooth skin and the way she sank into him when he held on to her a touch too long as he focused on her lips, pink and plump and so insanely kissable. She smelled of a mandarin-fresh perfume and sunscreen and summer. Perhaps he was reading into things that weren’t there. It had been a euphoric end to a day that could have gone so horribly wrong were it not for Belle’s quick thinking and calm, efficient, confident management of the situation. Perhaps that was what made kissing her goodnight feel different. Except, on his way home he played the moment over and over in his head, from the way she’d looked at him to the way he’d wished her lips were on his, biting, teasing, kissing.

He phoned Cara the minute he got back to Solace. It was early in the morning in Australia and she was up and about while he was heading to bed alone. He told her what had happened, and it was good to talk to the only person who would understand his confused feelings and wouldn’t judge, who wouldn’t try andpush him too hard about not doing something with Belle or about actually doing something… Because his thoughts were spiralling that way and his body was certainly betraying his head. Cara was his sounding board and his best mate, who told him the truth and allowed him to feel everything he needed to: grief, confusion, desire, hope, possibility, a crazy mess of difficult emotions that constantly fought each other.

Even after talking to Cara and hearing her pragmatic ‘you’re a hot-blooded man attracted to a beautiful woman who you’re drawn to so there’s nothing wrong with fantasising even if you don’t act on it’ talk, it didn’t make him feel any less anxious about taking Belle to Maria and Juan’s the next day. When they arrived there together, no one said anything about Belle being there in place of Cara, but he could tell they were wondering what his relationship with Belle was exactly. He didn’t have to try and see it through their eyes to know what they were thinking when he was trying to figure out if his attraction to Belle was about more than just the way her hair fell around her shoulders or the way the necklace she wore drew his eyes to her smooth skin and down to the curve of her breasts…

The second Maria caught Caleb’s eye and gave him a slight nod, he knew she’d caught him looking at Belle. There was a sadness in Maria’s eyes that was always there, but a warmth shone through in her gentle smile that was enough to calm his racing heart. Why did looking at another woman still feel as if he was cheating? It wasn’t as if he’d never been with another woman since Paloma… But of course it was the way Belle made him feel that was different. Was that why he’d asked if she could come? To test the water? To see the family’s reaction to another woman, someone who wasn’t a comfortably safe and platonic friend like Cara?

Belle was quiet but friendly. He’d sensed how overwhelmed she’d been when they’d first arrived to a cacophony of peopleand a barrage of names. A drink had been handed to her and food offered straight away, yet she’d taken it in her stride, politely accepting one of Maria’s homemade ham croquettes and rolling her eyes at its deliciousness – Caleb knew because it was one of his favourite things – and he loved how she’d immediately told Maria just how good it was.

She was unsurprisingly reserved but she happily chatted to Maria and Gabriela who both made sure she was included. Caleb watched her take everything in, trying to get to grips with the names and relationships of what was a sizeable family for someone who was an only child. Of course she’d already met Diego at Ushuaïa, and the other three brothers, Lluís, Àngel and Tomàs, who all still lived on the island, were as friendly and easy going as Paloma had been. The fifth brother, Javier, lived in Barcelona. Even though he wasn’t there, it was still rare to have everyone else together, but Maria insisted that they did this once a month, although it wasn’t easy to fit it in alongside running the family restaurant. Since Juan had semi-retired, his two eldest sons were running it, Lluís in the kitchen and Àngel at the front of house. It was the perfect balance because Caleb knew how relieved Maria and Juan were to not have the two of them fighting for dominance in the kitchen.

It was well past three by the time they sat down to eat. A huge paella was placed in the centre of the table with extras like bread and aioli, marinated olives and various salads. Caleb joined in with the conversations that bounced around, but he found himself keeping an eye on Belle most of all, loving the way she eagerly accepted piles of food and seemed genuinely happy to be there. When she caught him looking at her and smiled, it sent his heart racing.

20

Caleb’s presence at Maria and Juan’s was comforting, because apart from her parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary, Belle had never experienced a family get-together quite like it. Weddings and funerals were the only time she was ever around lots of relatives. This was just a normal weekend for the Torres Corchado family.

When Belle was growing up it had only been her mum, dad and her, and with the rest of their family spread all over the place, the only thing that had come close to this kind of joyfully loud gathering had been spending time with Laurie’s family. Gem’s too. Before she’d had children, Gem’s mum had been a massive clubber, and her love of eighties’ and nineties’ pop and dance music lived on with after-school kitchen discos dancing to Soul II Soul, Madonna and Neneh Cherry. Belle’s own parents had more of a comfy slippers and Radio 3 vibe about them. From what Caleb had said, he’d missed out on all of this too. It was no wonder he’d embraced Paloma’s family just as they’d taken him to their hearts.

She’d expected the food to be good but it was sensational. Perhaps it was the combination of the company and warmth of aloving family along with the location and the delicious food that made it special. She remembered bits about what Diego had told her about his parents running a restaurant, yet she was in this strange situation where no one else knew their real connection, not even Caleb, and it was far too awkward to reveal it now, particularly when he was the person who kept stealing her attention. Diego was as good-looking as he’d been when she’d first met him but it was Caleb who she found herself drawn to. Although older, he was equally handsome, but in a way that had grown on her rather than the in-her-face immediacy of Diego’s bulging biceps and smooth ridged chest. The short-sleeved shirt Caleb was wearing was open at the neck, the linen thin and pale so she could make out the imprint of his tattoo across one side of his chest. The scaled face of a dragon reached all the way to his neck. The laughter lines around his eyes showed that despite everything he’d been through, there’d still been happiness. Because happiness was here in abundance, even though she was with a family who had all lost someone special: a sister, an aunt, a wife, a daughter. It was an unfathomable loss but one they dealt with collectively while still managing to find the good in life. What she loved most was how Caleb was still very much part of the family, which said an awful lot about him and left her feeling honoured to have been brought into their fold.

With four of the brothers there, plus two wives and a partner, six grandchildren of varying ages, Caleb and her, they squeezed on to two long bench tables on the covered terrace at the back of the house. The children argued about who was sitting where until Maria made an executive decision and arranged them all at one end of the table. Everyone else sat where they liked and Belle found herself squeezed between Maria and Àngel’s wife Gabriela with Caleb opposite next to Diego. Drinks were poured and the last of the dishes were brought out. Maria encouraged everyone to help themselves.

‘You came to Ibiza before,sí?’ Maria asked Belle once she made sure the food was being dished onto plates.

Belle didn’t dare meet Diego’s eyes.

‘Only for a week on holiday when I was young.’

‘You are still young!’ Maria dolloped two large spoonfuls of paella onto her and Belle’s plates. ‘You like our island enough to come back to live though.’

‘Yes, it was always my intention to come back, but the job at Spirit came along at exactly the right time.’

‘We are glad. With Cara gone, Caleb struggles. It is good to know he has you.’

Maria’s words were as warm as a hug. To know she was doing him some good pleased her no end, yet she was uncertain if there was more meaning to Maria saying ‘he has you’.

Overthinking things had long been a problem, particularly when it came to relationships. Dissecting things had ultimately destroyed every one. She didn’t want to settle when it came to love; she wanted to fearlessly and passionately love and to be with someone who felt right in every way, who she could connect to in heart, body and soul. No one so far came close and that included Diego, of that she was now sure.

Caleb had been right about lunch turning into dinner. Eating was a blissfully long and leisurely pastime for Diego’s family. While the youngest grandchild had a nap, everyone else ate, chatted and ate some more. It was wonderful to be pulled into such a big loving family even for a short while. She’d made good friends in London, but since living on her own, there were plenty of moments of loneliness. She could only wish for something as wonderful as this in her life.

After they’d finished eating and had cleared away all the empty bowls and plates from the table, Belle didn’t avoid Diego on purpose, but she certainly didn’t go out of her way to speakto him. He took her by surprise when she was on her own for a couple of minutes and came over.

‘You’ve made an impression on him.’ Diego nodded to where Caleb was deep in conversation with Lluís. ‘Only Cara’s ever had an invite over here.’

Belle pursed her lips. ‘I think he’s just being nice.’

‘Caleb is nice but he tends to do things for a reason. You being here is meaningful.’

‘Areyouokay with me being here?’

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