Page 37 of An Island Promise

‘Because I never shared my feelings. It seemed a ridiculous notion to have believed I’d fallen in love. No way was I going to admit that to you and Gem.’ After everything she’d found out, she was relieved she hadn’t.

‘You could have confided in me, Belle. I don’t think it’s ridiculous to know instantly that you love someone; it’s how I felt about Ade.’

‘Yeah, well, it seemed crazy at the time. Then, when we got back, I was straight into my new life moving to London, starting a new job and then… Well, you know what happened.’

Laurie took Belle’s hand and squeezed it. ‘It’s a big year for lots of reasons, isn’t it? The ten-year anniversary of the accident will be a difficult day to get through.’

‘It is, so let’s enjoy ourselves and celebrate life and being together.’ Belle pulled off her beach cover-up and dropped it on the sun lounger. ‘Fancy another swim?’

The water was cool to begin with but with the sunshine dancing on the surface it soon felt warm. She swam to the opposite side and rested on the underwater seat with Laurie,enjoying the sense of weightlessness. Behind her were palm trees and the edge of the outdoor terrace of Spirit’s bar. Beyond, the beach was hidden from view behind a white wall.

Gem swam over and bobbed up next to them. ‘What have you two been gossiping about?’

Belle flashed Laurie an imploring look not to say anything.

‘About Belle having seen Diego again.’ Laurie caught Belle’s strained face too late.

‘You have?’ Gem’s eyes widened a touch but if she was surprised or felt any guilt, she was hiding it well.

‘Only because Caleb works with him,’ Belle said coolly.

‘Yes, and we also talked about Caleb,’ Laurie swiftly cut in, ‘and how generous of him it was to put us in a swim-up room.’

Gem snorted. ‘You mean how much he fancies Belle.’

Belle opened her mouth to protest then closed it. There’d been little point in arguing with Laurie so there would be no point in arguing with Gem, plus she didn’t want an argument to turn intothatargument. There was also an undercurrent of something in her tone… A harshness that she was probably noticing now because she knew exactly what Gem had got up to in Ibiza. Was Diego the reason she’d been reluctant to return? Because she feared dredging up the past and the truth being revealed?

Belle decided not to say anything. She just dipped her head beneath the water, slicked her hand through her wet hair and floated on her back so her line of sight shifted away from Gem because she didn’t understand the look she was giving her – one of jealousy? Annoyance?

The tepid water was going some way to tempering the heat building inside at Laurie’s certainty that Caleb liked her. The idea turned her insides to mush. She floated away from her friends and considered how she could even contemplateanything happening with Caleb when he was dealing with his own emotional torments.

23

For the first couple of days, Belle’s fears about them being back on Ibiza together were unfounded. She kept what she’d discovered about Gem and Diego to herself. Belle noticed how tightly wound Gem was, as if constantly keeping her emotions in check. The same way Gem presented only the good side of her life on Instagram, she projected that perfection in the way she looked too. She’d also made it clear she wanted to completely switch off from everything back home, conveniently taking talking about Dan off the table. The only mention of her home life was when she’d disappear for ten minutes each evening to phone her kids.

Perhaps the first day or two together was easy because it felt like a proper holiday. But instead of drunken pool parties and dancing till the early hours, they went up the coast to Cara Nova beach which was nestled in a pine-forest-hugged bay. They spent the day flitting between lazing on the sand and having a cooling drink in one of the beach bars and eating octopus timbal and summer cannelloni on the decked terrace of Aiyanna, shaded by sweeping palms and large colourful parasols. Belle noticed they skirted around emotional or revealing topics and kept the focuson where they were, what they were going to do, see and eat, subjects with little risk of conflict.

Early in the evening on their second day, they found a table on the terrace of Spirit’s bar and ordered a selection of tapas dishes including Padron peppers, leek croquettes and crispy coated calamari.

Gem dipped her bread into the aioli and took a bite. ‘God that’s powerful. No kissing anyone tonight.’

‘But delicious,’ Laurie said, scooping a liberal helping of the aioli onto a chunk of bread.

They were in mid-conversation about whether they should order a jug of sangria as a nod to their first Ibiza holiday or stick to a more sophisticated bottle of Cava when Belle glimpsed Caleb across the other side of the bar slowly making his way towards them.

Annoyance rushed through her because Gem had noticed him too. The slight pursing of her lips and the way her eyes traced him from head to toe showed she found him attractive. As Caleb reached them, Gem sat upright, her ample boobs front and centre. Belle was never sure if she did it on purpose or if it was an involuntary reaction to a good-looking man, because she’d always been a massive flirt. This time, it got Belle’s back up.

Caleb smiled and his eyes rested on Belle.

She cleared her throat. ‘These are my friends Laurie and Gem. This is Caleb, my boss and owner of this incredible place.’

Caleb shook their hands. ‘Finally I get to meet Belle’s friends. It’s good for her to have your company. I know what it’s like to work a long way from home. You’ve got everything you need?’

‘It’s generous of you to have put us in such a beautiful room.’ Gem’s voice was like honey.

‘My pleasure. It’s the least I can do. Belle taking over as events manager so quickly got me out of a real difficulty. I like the connection she has to the island and her desire to come back– Ibiza is my home and a place I fell in love with when I first came here, so I get that you three wanted a reunion holiday.’

‘Ah, you know about our ten-year pact to return.’ Gem ran a finger around the rim of her glass. ‘Or maybe it was more about her connection to Diego Torres that drew her back.’

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