Daisy spotted someone waving at them and tugged gently on Gabe’s hand. ‘That guy over there is trying to get your attention,’ she said quietly, not wishing to disturb the audience.
Gabriel looked over. ‘It’s Ed,’ he said. ‘He works at a manor house not too far from here, in the gardens. Shall we go and see if they’ve got space near them?’
Desperate to sit down and take in the atmosphere of the evening, Daisy nodded. ‘Yes. I think we’re starting to annoy the people behind us.’
They stepped carefully over feet and glasses that were in their way, reaching Ed and his friends a short while later.
‘Good to see you,’ Ed said, taking the hamper from Gabe and indicating a space next to him. ‘Make yourself at home.’
Gabriel unrolled the blanket and placed it down on the grass, giving Daisy room to get comfortable next to Ed before sitting down on her other side.
‘Hi, I’m Ed,’ said the man who looked rugged and outdoorsy, yet somehow still refined. ‘This is Izzy, my girlfriend, and her friend, Jess, and Alex, Izzy’s brother.’
‘Hi,’ they all said in unison.
‘Good to meet you all,’ Daisy said shrugging off her jacket in the warmth of the setting sun. ‘This is incredible,’ she said. ‘I’ve never experienced anything like it.’
‘Good, isn’t it?’ Izzy said. ‘They say this place has a natural amphitheatre which is why the sound is so good.’
‘The backdrop of the bay is pure luck,’ Ed said, putting their hamper down in front of Daisy. ‘If you haven’t got enough of anything let us know. Izzy packed a hamper for us and I think she was expecting to stay here for a couple of days.’
Izzy elbowed him and giggled. ‘Ignore him, I just wanted to be sure we had everything we needed.’
‘Including cake forks and piccalilli,’ Ed said, shrugging. ‘Whatever that is. It looks like it could be radioactive.’
Daisy couldn’t help laughing at his teasing. She’d always hated the taste of piccalilli, despite her mother’s insistence that it was delicious. Gabriel handed Daisy two glass flutes, took out a bottle of champagne and opened it.
‘What are we celebrating?’ she asked.
‘Being here,’ he said simply, as he poured the goldenbubbly liquid. He placed the bottle against one of the sides in the hamper and took a glass from her. ‘To you being here in Jersey,’ he said, clinking his glass gently against hers. ‘To a wonderful summer.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ she said, taking a sip.
Gabriel sat cross-legged next to her as they listened to the beautiful tunes filling the air around them. As one tune ended, he leant down and pointed through the trees. ‘There’s another Napoleonic tower lording it on the rock in the middle of the bay, and down there is a small white house that can be rented out for the odd night.’
She had to move slightly to get a glimpse of each of the properties. ‘Is that white stone lighthouse over there on the left Corbière?’
‘It is,’ he whispered.
‘Wow, it’s breathtaking,’ she said. ‘It’s so wild and unspoilt down here and that gorgeous sand makes me want to go down there and run into the water.’
‘Nothing’s stopping you from doing that, if you’d like to,’ he said.
‘Maybe after this concert has finished,’ she teased.
‘I’m glad you like Jersey,’ he said, his voice quieter and more serious, his cool breath on her neck sending sensations through her body.
‘How can I not like it; each bay is different to the last and everything is so pretty. I love it here.’
As the music played, the sun slowly lowered and Daisy realised she was leaning against Gabriel. She wasn’t sure whether to move slightly away and sit up straighter. As if he’d heard her thoughts, he put his arm around her shoulders and rested his head against the top of hers. It was a perfect moment. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the music.
‘Move over, Gabe.’
Gabriel tensed and sat up. ‘Bella, I didn’t realise you’dbe here this evening.’
‘Why shouldn’t I be?’
Daisy opened her eyes at the sound of the clipped female tone. The beautiful woman with the dark shiny bob and large brown eyes was gazing down at Daisy. She looked at Gabriel and raised a perfectly threaded eyebrow. ‘And this is…?’
