Page 58 of The Summer Island Swap
A prick of something unpleasant pierced my chest. The whole scene reminded me of Dad and the way he’d been with other women. How that had made me determined never, ever again to seek approval from a man like him.
‘Rick – your gran was still on your laptop when I found it. I’ve been chatting to her. She’s waiting for you now.’
‘That must have been quite a conversation, lasting this long,’ he said and turned to Carlotta. ‘How about we catch up tomorrow?’ He winked at her.
Hadn’t he said I was the only volunteer ever to make him feel anything? Yet I shouldn’t assume. Rick probably had good reason for the flirtatious tone of his words.
Carlotta looked as if she were about to swoon. Humming, she disappeared into the house. Rick’s phone pinged, he clicked on a notification. For some reason his face turned ugly and red. I hoped another animal wasn’t ill. I waved goodbye to him and caught up with Carlotta. Benedikt and Jonas weren’t to be seen. I looked at my watch. It was time to get back for dinner.
‘Isn’t Rick delectable?’ said Carlotta. I thought how much more attractive her Italian accent must sound to Rick than my plain London tones. ‘Fancy a jog back to camp?’ she said and stretched.
‘No thanks. It’s too hot for me. I’ll just walk.’ She left the building and started running. No wonder she looked so lithe.
A loud, irritated voice caught my attention. I returned to the pool. Outside the beach hut, laptop closed and under his arm, Rick paced up and down.
26
‘You’ve told Gran about your idea? And worse… gone behind my back and shared the idea with my brother? I just got an email from him enthusing about your plan. I told you… it’s a non-starter.’ Beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead. ‘Gran’s phone rang, so she had to go, but she wants to speak about it later.’
‘Rick… don’t be silly… I haven’t deceived you! Margot sensed that I had an idea and—’
He snorted. ‘Sensed?You mean you took the opportunity to bombard her with your plans.’
‘It wasn’t like that. But you hadn’t had time to hear the detail and she seemed desperate for a rescue plan. I’m so keen to help. I didn’t see the harm. She asked me to email Lee. I thought three heads might be better than one.’
‘You didn’t trust my view?’
‘I’m just trying to—’
‘You’ve only been here five minutes! Whereas I’ve spent a couple of years thinking through the conservation venture. My gran and Lee know hardly anything about the work I do and how it needs time to grow. I just need another year to—’
‘If I understand rightly, Margot doesn’t feel you’ve got that long,’ I said, quietly.
He flinched. ‘But a hotel? Here? Guests who think nothing of throwing away drinks cans and disturbing turtle nests?’
‘Guests who pay. Guests you could carefully select. It’s all about advertising in the right places.’
Rick wiped his forehead with his arm. ‘You aren’t a conservationist – nor are Gran or Lee – so I wouldn’t expect any of you to know all the risks from tourism, but the implications could be horrific. Small birds and reptiles might crawl into discarded plastic containers and glass jars, looking for food and getting stuck. The litter they might try to eat could be toxic and—’
‘Just think about it for a second, Rick… there would be hardly any set-up costs. We aren’t talking hundreds of guests. Ten at a time at the most.’
‘And if it takes off the idea might expand. It will give my brother the perfect opportunity to try and take over. He’d bring the conservation work to an end. I can see it now – the shacks would be converted to more tourist accommodation. The animal enclosures into some kind of freak show. Lighting would go up. Parties held. The turtles wouldn’t feel able to nest on our island. Birds would keep away from the noise. Litter would destroy wildlife and the careful balance needed to maintain their environment. He’d try to turn Chatty into some kind of entertainment.’
‘Stop. You’re not thinking straight. You’re blowing this out of all proportion. There’s no reason why—’
‘You work in a hotel, Sarah. You didn’t even want to stay at first. I don’t think you’re qualified to decide what is best for Seagrass Island.’
‘This isn’t just about your project though. It’s about saving Crocker & Crowley. All I wanted to do was—’
‘Avoid camp duties? A project like this would neatly fill your remaining three weeks, away from the dirt and heat and manual work, whilst filling my grandmother with false hope. She mentioned briefly how you’d offered to work on it full-time until you went home.’ He sighed. ‘I get it. Honestly, I do. You were tricked into coming here. If I was you, Sarah, I’d want to find a way out of all the physical work too, but…’
My hands locked into fists. ‘You really think that’s my motivation? That I’m only thinking about myself?’
Suddenly he looked even older than his gran. ‘Why should you care about us?’
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘Why indeed?’ I strode through the house before marching out of the front door and out the other side.
Getting close to a man like Rick was always going to end badly.
