A Family Holiday (21 page)

‘No, Eleanor, I’m in charge!’ shouted Millie, instantly dispelling Charlie’s happy contemplations.

‘Charlie!’ called Eleanor, ‘Millie meltdown alert!’

‘Millie, you’re not in charge,’ said Charlie.

‘I am in charge!’

‘Millie,’ warned Charlie.

‘I. Am. In. Charge!’ yelled Millie.

Charlie heard Blue before she saw him, now she was accustomed to his dulcet tones. It was British with a hint of the Caribbean, which was stronger here than in London.

‘How was English Harbour?’ he said, sitting down cross-legged on the edge of her towel.

‘Lovely, thanks. You had a good day?’

‘Yep, lots of Americans. They’re great, they find everything ‘awesome’!’ he grinned. ‘Have you decided about tonight and me-laddo here?’

‘What’s this?’ asked Ted, flopping down on the sand next to them.

‘It’s a local party…’ started Blue.

‘Yeah, count me in,’ said Ted.

‘Cheers,’ said Charlie, giving Blue a mock death stare, ‘now I’m the bad guy if I say no.’

‘There’s no need to say no. You’ll behave, won’t you Tedward?’

‘Oh, yeah, course. Good as gold, me. Is there beer?’ he grinned. Charlie shook her head and lay back on her towel as she heard Ted and Blue high-five each other above her.

‘I. Am. In. Charge!’ repeated a frustrated Millie, turning an unusual colour. Charlie could see the benefits of maybe having a few hours out.

Shirley Heights was ridiculously close to the villa. It was on the peak of the hillside behind it. Blue was greeted warmly by everyone he met, with lots of handshakes, hugs and backslapping. He led Ted and Charlie through the restaurant and bought drinks, before they went and stood with others to watch the sun go down. Charlie was amazed at the speed it travelled. At home it took ages for the sun to set, but here you could actually see it moving, falling, melting into the hills behind Nelson’s Dockyard and lighting up the sea.

As it sank lower, Blue leaned in close to Charlie and whispered to her. ‘Keep watching, don’t even blink. If I’m right, you won’t believe what you’re about to see.’ Charlie dared not move and stayed glued to the falling orange mass. It was a clear night, with barely a cloud. The chatter of those around lessened as others joined them – it wasn’t silent, there were too many people, but there was an excited hush. Charlie was beginning to think that Blue was winding her up as the last piece of the sun disappeared but he wasn’t. At the last moment, as the sun disappeared, there was a glimpse of green light and it was gone. The crowd gasped and burst into spontaneous applause and a steel band broke into life.

‘That was incredible. Does it happen every night?’

‘No. Not every night, it’s pretty rare but the conditions were good tonight. We caught lucky.’ His eyes kept her gaze for a moment.

‘You know what? I’m starting to think that too.’

It was still surprisingly light, despite the sun having set, and they meandered about the stalls that sold all sorts of food. There were easily a couple of hundred people in the tiny space and Charlie tried to keep sight of Ted without him seeing her.

‘This isn’t London, he’s fine. Come and dance,’ Blue said, taking her arm. Charlie made a pathetic effort to protest but found herself pulled by the hand and then she was dancing. The music felt like it came from within. The steel band mixing up the play list from the traditional ‘One Love’ by Bob Marley to Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’. The dancing was an eclectic mix, there were a lot of tourists but there were lots of locals too and the difference in rhythm was strikingly obvious. Blue seemed to have picked up the local ways and was guiding Charlie with his hips. The dancing and the music were seductive and so was the company and with each rum punch Blue grew more and more tempting.

Charlie caught sight of Ted on and off during the evening and each time he was chatting to a girl, the same girl, and the way she was looking at Ted set off alarm bells. It was dark now, the darkness suddenly appearing and cloaking them all. The music had changed – the steel band had handed over to a local calypso group and the pace of the dancers had slowed.

‘Sorry, Blue, I’m done in and I think Ted and I should be heading back now.’

‘Give him another five minutes – he’s only just plucked up the courage to dance.’ Blue nodded to the darker side of the dancing couples, where Charlie spotted Ted dancing with the girl – her head was resting on Ted’s shoulder and her eyes were closed. ‘Come on, let’s have one more dance ourselves, then I’ll drive you both back.’ Charlie was rooted to the spot and was taking in the details of the girl Ted was dancing with. She looked a bit older than Ted, most likely local, with her dark skin and neat cornrows. She was very slim and was wearing a short dress and flat shoes. There was a ‘Kipper List’ nominee if ever she’d seen one.

Blue tugged on Charlie’s hand and she dragged her eyes away from Ted. As they danced and slowly turned to the music Charlie found herself searching the crowd on each turn for a glimpse of Ted until Blue pulled her tighter to him and she could only concentrate on him.

‘You don’t have to worry about him, you know. He’s a sensible lad.’

Charlie pulled her head back so that she could see his face clearly, ‘It’s my job, it’s what I do.’ She started to scan again and Blue pulled her closer. ‘Charlie, I think I might ask if I can kiss you later, but it depends,’ he whispered.

Charlie’s heart rate suddenly increased and a million reasons why that would be a bad idea streamed through her head.

‘It depends on what?’

‘On whether or not you want to be kissed,’ he said, his voice growing huskier.

Charlie had to admit that the thought of being kissed by Blue had already crossed her mind more than once over the last few days. ‘I think there are a million reasons why that would be a very bad idea.’

‘But would you like it?’

‘I might,’ she said breathily into his ear and she felt him shudder in response.

‘That’s good to know,’ he said, then added, ‘we’d best get you home.’

They left the other people dancing and Blue nudged Ted in the back as they past, ‘Home time, lover boy.’

Ted said an awkward good-bye to the girl he’d been dancing with and wandered away from the crowds.

Fleur turned over in Jonathan’s big bed and looked at the clock again in disbelief, it was three o’clock. She was wide awake and now her mind was racing there was no chance of going back to sleep. She kept going over the day’s events and trying to work out what to do next. She felt she needed to talk it over with Jonathan, but he would be asleep. He was such a good listener and as she now had a couple of suggestions for how she could tackle the situation with her father she wanted to know what he thought.

Fleur tried a couple more times to go back to sleep, but eventually gave in to her restlessness and got up. She pulled on Jonathan’s dressing gown and traipsed through to the living room. There was no light except the dim glow from the digital clock on the oven that only served to remind her it was still the middle of the night.

She tussled with her choices; switch on the kettle for a cuppa and risk waking the sleeping Jonathan or wander back to bed and fight the boredom for a few more hours. She watched Jonathan sleeping. He had kicked off his duvet and was lying curled up in a foetal position; she leaned over him a little to see if she could see his facial expression. He stretched and started to stir, which pleased Fleur – if he woke up of his own accord she would have nothing to feel guilty about and not only could she then have a cup of coffee, she would also have someone to talk to. Unfortunately for Fleur he quickly snuggled down again and was still sound asleep. She couldn’t deliberately wake him, she wasn’t that cruel. She huffed involuntarily, turned to leave and walked straight into the coffee table. ‘Shit! Ow!’ She hopped about as she rubbed her injured shin.

‘Fleur?’ said Jonathan, frantically feeling for the light switch.

‘Argh!’ Fleur blinked hard as the light blinded her, and she continued to rub her leg.

‘You look like a Premiership footballer trying to get a penalty,’ he chuckled before checking his watch.

‘I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you
…
actually I did want you to wake up but not like this. Sorry.’ She shrugged and sank down next to him on the sofa, still preoccupied by the bump coming up on her shin. At least she had someone to chat to now, she thought, even if it had resulted in a minor injury.

‘Right, I see.’ Jonathan looked pleased and he dragged a hand through his hair as his eyes ran up and down Fleur’s body. She was wearing a pale-pink lace-edged vest top and matching hot-pants-style bottoms. Fleur lay back on the sofa and sighed loudly as she thought through the potential next steps she had conjured up. Jonathan watched her closely and moved over so that Fleur could lie stretched out next to him. She shuffled over.

‘Thanks,’ she said, turning to face him and realising just how close they now were. She felt she was invading his space. ‘Oh,’ she said, assessing the situation, ‘would you like
…
’ but she failed to finish the sentence before Jonathan’s lips were on hers, full of pent-up passion and desire. Fleur lingered a fraction too long and felt his arms pull her to him and she was up against something intrusive and rigid between them which made her spring away. ‘Coffee! I was asking you if you wanted a coffee!’

‘What?’ said Jonathan, his expression one of total confusion.

Fleur scrambled off the sofa and stood over him, her heart racing. She had held Jonathan up on a pedestal as someone who liked her for who she was, not someone who wanted to get her into bed, and right now he had ceremoniously tumbled off that pedestal. ‘Why did you do that?’ she said, trying, but failing, to hide her hurt feelings.

‘You said
…
no sorry, I thought you said you came to wake me and you lay here,’ he indicated the sofa, his expression was contrite, ‘I’m so sorry, I misread the situation, but it was a genuine mistake.’

‘It was a mistake to stay here, you’re the same as all the rest,’ she said sadly. She’d never had a male friend like Jonathan before and now she felt she had lost him. He had unwittingly crossed a line and there was no going back to the easy platonic relationship they’d enjoyed because she’d always know what he really wanted from her. As she shook her head a tear slid down her cheek, and she turned and left the room, her body weighed down by disappointment. Jonathan sighed as he rubbed his face with his palms, blinking hard before slumping back against the sofa – he was the picture of regret.

Back at the villa, Blue was chatting to Berta by the front door whilst Charlie got two beers from the fridge.

‘Tigi is a stubborn old chap,’ said Blue with a chuckle.

‘Less of the old,’ said Berta, giving Blue a look worthy of a Hollywood diva. ‘He’s the same age as me!’

‘So obviously he’s not old,’ said Blue, raking his fingers through his already unkempt hair. ‘But he’s struggling with the MS more than he’ll let on.’

Berta nodded wisely. ‘I know he would never admit it but he was frightened when you were in London and so grateful when you came home. When that wicked disease strikes he can’t cope on his own,’ said Berta, adjusting the bag strap on her shoulder.

‘I guessed as much, but don’t go saying that to Tig or he’ll go off like a fire cracker.’

‘Hee-Hee,’ screeched Berta as she slapped Blue on the back. ‘You’re right there.’ She left her hand on his back as her smile waned and she patted him gently. ‘You’re doing a good job looking after him,’ she said, her smile sincere but melancholy.

‘And don’t say that either!’ said Blue, his tone light-hearted as he opened the door for Berta to leave.

‘I won’t, I value my eardrums too much!’ she said, her humour quickly returning as she left, chuckling to herself.

Charlie didn’t like to admit that she was earwigging their conversation and she jumped slightly as Ted loomed up behind her. ‘I thought you’d turned in,’ she said, feeling a little guilty.

‘Yeah, I’m heading up now. I just wanted to say I had a good time tonight, so if you were going again next week I’d be up for it.’

‘I bet you would! Who was she, then?’

Ted looked like he was about to say ‘who’ but Charlie’s expression pre-empted his denial. ‘Esther, her name is Esther. She’s at school but she helps her mother with hair braiding on the beach. She said she’d do the girls at a discount,’ he said, his voice full of awe.

‘She sounds like a good person to know,’ said Charlie, giving him a friendly slap on the back as they left the kitchen together. ‘Take it easy, okay?’

‘Char-lie,’ complained Ted and he disappeared upstairs. Charlie joined Blue by the pool and handed him a beer.

‘So, what’s your story, Charlie?’ asked Blue, swigging from the bottle.

‘Nothing exciting. I’d rather hear about how you made Antigua your home.’

‘That’s not very exciting either. I came for a holiday and I stayed. That was six years ago nearly.’ He swigged his beer and glanced at Charlie, who was waiting for more of an explanation.

‘You stayed? Just like that?’

Blue laughed. ‘Not exactly. I did a few odd jobs, bar work in hotels, that sort of thing. I met Tigi and he wanted to expand his business into the boat trips. I spent a lot of time in my youth with boats and I knew I wanted to stay here, so we decided to go into business together.’

‘Big decision, though. Will you ever go back to the UK, do you think?’

She saw the muscles tense in his neck. He shook his head. ‘This is my home now and there’s the business and Tigi. We share a place together. And before you ask, no we’re not gay.’

She smiled at the thought. She opened her mouth to speak but decided not to raise the question of the children right now. ‘What did you do before you came here?’

‘University. I was lining up for a job in entomology when I decided to take a look at the world. I shoved a pin in a map and ended up in the Caribbean.’

‘That’s lucky. If I stuck a pin in a map, knowing my luck, I’d end up in the Arctic or, worse still, Clacton-on-Sea!’

‘I like Clacton – good beach, nice pier and big amusement arcades.’ Charlie pulled a face at him. ‘I was about ten when I visited, so it ticked all my boxes back then.’

‘You really stuck a pin in a map and ended up here?’

‘Not exactly. I signed up to do a moth study in Barbados but the funding got cut.’ He smiled and paused. ‘I decided to come anyway. Bummed around Barbados for a bit and got a job moving a boat around the islands, so I ended up here.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I felt at peace here, something I hadn’t felt for a long time. It felt like home.’

They sat in silence for a while listening to the rhythmic calls of the tree frogs. ‘I like it here,’ said Charlie. ‘I can see why you stayed.’ She turned and gave him a brief smile.

‘Where are you at home, Charlie?’

‘London,’ she said without thinking.

‘No, I don’t mean where do you live. I mean where are you at peace?’ He turned to study her as she thought.

Charlie sipped her beer and tried to ignore Blue’s gaze. When the silence had gone on too long she spoke. ‘I was happiest with the Cobleys, but I don’t think I’ve ever had that feeling of being at peace.’

‘I hope you find it one day,’ said Blue as he finished his beer and put the bottle on the ground. ‘I should be making tracks,’ he said, but didn’t move from his seat.

‘Someone waiting for you at home?’

‘Only Tigi and he’ll be asleep on the porch by now.’