He hesitated and she wondered what he was refraining from saying to her. She didn’t want him to bring up the subject of Bella, or anything that might sour their moment, so she quickly picked up her glass to toast him once more. ‘To you. May your summer be as perfect as you hope it to be.’
He mirrored her actions and said, ‘Thank you, Daisy.’
Several people wandered past them and one nosy dog sniffed around their food before being called away by its owner. She tried to implant the image of Gabriel sitting next to her on the rug into her mind so that she’d never forget it.
‘Your painting really is very good,’ he said eventually. ‘You should try to sell them at one of the galleries, or maybe in a couple of the local shops. They’re certainly good enough to make you some money.’
She hadn’t dared hope that she could sell her work just yet, but liked the thought of earning extra cash to build up a nest-egg to support whatever she decided to do at theend of the summer season when the hotel closed for the winter. ‘I’m not sure I’m ready to show them to too many people yet,’ she said, doubting his confidence in her abilities.
‘Why not? They’re excellent.’
He looked sincere and she believed that he was telling her the truth, and for that she was grateful. She just didn’t have the confidence in herself to ask anyone to hang them in their gallery or shop just yet. Maybe soon, she thought. ‘There are so many beautiful locations here on the island, it’s hard to choose where to start.’
He nodded. ‘I’m the same with the bays. I loved exploring them as a kid but never seemed to have the time to try out every cove or beach here.’
She could imagine him as a teenager, inquisitive and desperate to discover new things in the island’s waters. ‘What was your favourite pastime apart from diving?’
He shrugged. ‘Underwater photography, I suppose.’
She laughed. ‘So, still under the water then?’
‘Yes, I suppose it was,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve always been happier in the water, or so my mother always said. I used to run away on the beach whenever she took me there as a child, so she always make sure I was wearing bright swimming trunks. She was grateful that a lot of the locals recognised me as her son and kept an eye out for me whenever I took off in search of sea shells, or driftwood, or other treasures I could take back home to the hotel to keep in the secret stash under my bed.’
‘And do you still have a secret stash?’
‘I do,’ he said, smiling at her, the skin around his dark eyes crinkling slightly.
Daisy sighed, soothed by Gabriel’s jovial company and the glasses of Buck’s Fizz. She relaxed and lay back on her elbows on the rug. ‘This is bliss,’ she said. ‘I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave this place. Everything seems close and it makes me feel cosseted somehow.’
‘I suppose it helps that so many people know each other here,’ Gabriel said. ‘When I was a teenager I couldn’t wait to leave and see the world, but I always enjoy coming home to Jersey. My parents feel the same way, although it’s a pain having to take that extra flight to the mainland to connect with any other flight.’
‘Worth it, though,’ Daisy said, thinking that an extra flight to reach the outside world was even more of a reason to come and live here. She was beginning to feel safe for the first time since being so anonymous in Vietnam.
‘I’m going to have to leave again soon,’ Gabriel said quietly, staring out at the channel as if longing to be somewhere far away.
Daisy tried not to overreact. ‘Your project?’
He finished his drink, and resting on one elbow smiled at her. He seemed sad. ‘They held their meeting and still won’t give us the sponsorship. So I’m going to have to travel back to try and find more backing.’
‘What will you do?’
He reached out his hand and picked a blade of grass, curling it between two fingers as he stared miserably at it. ‘I have to try to rescue what we’ve started. I’m going to need more sponsorship to carry on, but until I find it, I’m going to have to shut everything down. It’s devastating for the others involved. Everyone in the team has put months of their lives into the research. It would be frustrating to think of it going to waste if we can’t afford to finish our work.’
She hated to think of the Encore without Gabriel there greeting guests. She’d got used to seeing him in passing and didn’t like the thought of him being far away, somewhere where she wouldn’t have contact with him.
‘I’ll miss you,’ she said honestly. ‘It’s not going to be the same without you.’
His lips drew back in a slow smile and he looked upfrom the blade of grass into her eyes. ‘That’s good to know. I’ll miss you too.’
‘Will you be away long?’ She found she didn’t care what he read from her questions.
‘I’m not sure. It could be a few weeks or maybe months. We might be lucky enough to find more funding, and if that happens then I could stay away for a bit longer. I need to do the best I can for my team.’
She knew it was selfish of her to want him to stay, especially as she’d been so insistent that there could be nothing between them while he was still married to Bella. ‘Your work is so important, Gabe. It must make you feel so satisfied at the end of each day to know you’re doing something that could make such a difference to other people’s lives.’
‘I get as much joy out of helping them as they do with me and my team being there and working on everything.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘Daisy, I have to tell you that Bella will be coming out with me. She’s been a part of several of the projects I’ve been involved in and this is one of them. She didn’t really want to come along this time but there’s something I’m hoping she can help me with in South Africa. I’ll tell you about it when I know it’s worked, but however you feel about this you must know that it’s important.’
She stared at him, stunned. She wanted to trust him. Wished she could more than anything, but she’d trusted in the past and ended up having to deal with the consequences. Sitting bolt upright and not caring that she’d knocked over her glass, Daisy glared at him. ‘Is this the reason for the unexpected picnic, to soften me up before slamming me with that nugget of information?’
