She bent to sniff a dark-red flower; the scent was heady. ‘That is incredible,’ she said.
‘I think that’s Nan’s favourite,’ he said. ‘If it is then that one is called “Deep Secret”. Nan has a few of those in her rose garden.’ They walked a few steps further. ‘So, how do you like living in Jersey; is it to your liking?’ He grinned at her.
‘It is,’ she said, trying not to giggle. ‘I never thought I could find anywhere I’d be as happy as I was in Vietnam,’ she admitted. ‘But it’s lovely here, if not quite as exotic.’
‘Or as hot,’ he laughed. Gabriel took her hand in his, lifted it to his lips, and kissed it. ‘Meeting you here has made the anticipation of an amazing summer even more special than it usually is,’ he said.
Daisy didn’t answer; she was unable to trust herself not to fling her arms around his neck and kiss him.
He led her over to his car and they began the short drive to St Ouen’s. He sighed. ‘I was pretty upset having to leave my team,’ he said. ‘But I knew I couldn’tleave Nan to look after the hotel alone, especially now the high season is nearly upon us.’ He shook his head. ‘I still can’t believe you’re living and working here.’
Neither could she sometimes. They continued in silence for a few moments. ‘That storm last night woke me up,’ she said, recalling the loud clap of thunder that had given her such a fright sometime around two in the morning.
‘It was,’ he said. ‘I could hear Nan’s little rescue dog, Jack, yelping and barking the whole time it thundered. I went down to the house to check everything was OK.’
‘Poor little thing. Did he calm down in the end?’
Gabriel shook his head and yawned. ‘No. Nan took him up to her room. He sleeps in the utility room and is usually perfectly happy. I think I eventually fell asleep around four o’clock.’
‘Me too,’ she said. ‘Poor little dog. How long has she had him?’
‘About a year or so. He’s a Jack Russell cross about four other breeds. He’s a funny-looking thing, but he’s sweet and she adores him.’
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Daisy stole glances at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice. The last time she did it, he turned and smiled at her.
He turned down a narrow road. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing across to the beach where a paraglider was circling. ‘The tide is up at the moment, but when it goes out there’ll be all sorts of flotsam and jetsam dumped on the beach from the rough tides. It always happens after a storm.’
‘I’ll have to make sure I pop down to the beach later to do a bit of beachcombing,’ she said. ‘I could do with finding a few bits of faded glass and driftwood for my windowsill. It’s a bit bare in there at the moment.’
‘Good idea,’ he said.
‘I can’t believe your parents are my bosses,’ she giggled. ‘They’re characters, aren’t they?’
‘A bit larger than life, would you say?’ He smiled, the skin around his dark-brown eyes crinkling in amusement.
Daisy laughed. ‘You could say that.’
‘Have you been this way before?’ he asked, motioning down towards the sea on their right-hand side.
‘No,’ she said, looking down the cliff face close to the road at the waves crashing against hidden rocks below the surface. ‘St Ouen is on the north-west of the island, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. I love it down on that beach, it’s so wild and unspoilt.’
The car meandered its way through the narrow lanes, with grassy banks and flowers leaning precariously over towards the side of the car.
‘I’m sure these roads would be wider if the grass wasn’t so long,’ she said, wishing she could have shown him around the places she loved in Devon. Her emotions dipped as she realised that the chances of her having a reason to return to her home town were minimal. There was no one she wanted to visit there, no one worth the risk of being seen for. She fought her resentment. She realised Gabe was speaking and focused her attention to what he was saying.
‘The banks and bushes on the sides of the roads will be cut soon. They call it “the branchage”. We’ll all be moaning when they’re doing it because there will be traffic hold-ups. Even worse are the machines hired to cut the grass; they’re slow and a lot of them damage the hedging. It drives me nuts when I see that happening.’
‘That’s awful.’
Daisy closed her eyes and relished the heat of the evening sun warming her face. This island seemed sosimilar to her home in some ways, but the use of French road names and words like ‘branchage’ reminded her that she was on an island off the coast of France and not in south-west England. She’d never experienced anything this glorious when she lived at home with her mum. They hadn’t lived in a pretty house or with a sea-view and her mum had never driven, let alone owned a car, so their lives had been ruled by bus timetables whenever they wanted to go anywhere. Their estate could have benefitted hugely from banks of grass and flowers.
‘You’re very lucky growing up on such a pretty island, Gabe.’
‘I know and I do appreciate it. In fact, leaving for work can be quite a wrench at times, but I know I’ll always come back.’ He reached out and took one of her hands in his. ‘Do you envisage staying here for long, Daisy?’
She hadn’t decided, but being with him right now and having her hand in his made the thought of never leaving this place very tempting. ‘I would like to,’ she admitted. ‘Now Mum has gone and what’s left of her belongings are in storage, I don’t have anywhere else I need to be.’
