Page 50 of The Christmas Holiday
Chapter Twelve
The next morning was bright and warm but without the sticky heat Florida offered in its summer months. I was standing on the banks of an inlet, in the shade of a clump of palms, watching in awe as manatees unhurriedly swam past, breaking the surface every now and then, their gentle faces making me smile every time I saw them.
‘Aren’t they adorable?’ Liv said, as she cameand stood next to me, all kitted out and ready for kayaking in shorts and a T-shirt, a compact life jacket dangling from one very recently manicured finger.
‘Amazing,’ I replied, unable to keep the smile off my face or out of my voice.
Olivia gave me a squeeze. ‘Oh, I’m so glad you decided to take this job. I knew I loved your writing but I didn’t know if you’d be up for all the activitiestoo. But when Dad said you were just as excited about it all as we were, oh, I was so thrilled! He told us you weren’t terribly experienced at doing many of the things but knew you’d just take it all in your stride. He’s so proud of you, you know. He called you his most capable employee.’
‘Oh! Wow. Yes! I’m… yes, really excited. Really! And that’s so… nice of him to say that.’
Liv bouncedon the spot a couple of times in excitement and I did the same, partly because she had hold of my arms and I had little choice.
‘Ooh! Sandy! Selfie time, come on!’ She waved to him and pointed to the edge of the water a little further along where a group of manatees were congregating.
Hunter gave a little shake of his head as they passed him. ‘If you’re going to insist on doing selfies,tell me again why I’m here?’
‘Oh, Hunter. Don’t get all creative and precious, now. You know selfies are pretty much compulsory anywhere these days. It doesn’t mean we love you or your work any less.’ Sandy did a pouty lip thing and Hunter gave him the finger, his eyes betraying his amusement.
‘Well done on the act back there, by the way,’ Hunter said, his eyes on Liv and Sandy pullingduck faces into the lens of her phone.
‘What act?’
He smiled and tilted his head down at the ground, taking his sunglasses off as he did so.
‘OK…’ He lifted his head and looked directly at me. ‘Look me in the eye and tell me you knew you were expected to take part in all the activities on this trip, and not just write about them from an observational point of view.’
I took a slow,calming breath. ‘I knew all about the activities.’ I shifted my weight and straightened my back.
‘Yep. And? By the way, classic defensive stance there.’
‘It is not!’ I said. Defensively.
I saw him smother a smile.
‘Oh, OK. Fine. You win. Again. Happy now? You’re right. I had no idea I was expected to actually take part in things. Jeremy conveniently forgot to mention that bit ofthe arrangement.’
‘On purpose?’
‘Jeremy never does anything that isn’t on purpose.’ I chewed my lip, ‘Do you think Olivia realised?’
‘No. Not for a minute. Especially not with the whole bouncy bouncy celebration thing. What the hell was that anyway?’
‘I’ve no idea. I sort of got swept along. So you’re sure she doesn’t realise?’
‘Positive. You’d know. She’s sweet but she canbe pretty forthright when she needs to be. Seriously, the only reason I knew is because I know you… better than they do. Anyone else wouldn’t have had a clue. I promise.’
I nodded. ‘Right. Good.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘About what?’
‘About all the stuff lined up on the trip that you’re expected to do.’
‘Do it, of course.’
Hunter frowned. ‘You do actually rememberwhat’s on the itinerary, don’t you?’
