‘She told me what happened,’ Gabriel said. ‘But unsurprisingly her version is different to yours. I’m inclined to believe my girlfriend. So, if you don’t mind, we’ll take our shoes and get on.’
He took Daisy’s shoes from Aaron and passed them to her before leaning past him and picking up his own shoes.
‘I don’t expect to see you hanging around her again,’ Gabriel added, stopping to give Aaron a threatening glare.
Typical bully, thought Daisy as they walked off arm inarm. Can’t help trying to terrorise someone smaller than him, but when Gabriel comes along he stands there looking all pathetic. She resisted looking back at her ex and put her arm around Gabe’s waist.
‘Goodbye, Aaron,’ she said. ‘If I see you again I’ll report you to the police. Enough people have met you now to know what you look like, so it won’t be difficult to trace you here.’
‘She makes a good point,’ Gabriel said. ‘This is a small island where everyone knows everyone else and their business, so you’d be wise to consider that fact before coming back here again.’
They began walking. Daisy’s legs felt like lead and she was sure that it was only Gabriel helping her that enabled her to move.
‘I hope he does keep away,’ she said, once they’d walked about a hundred yards away from him. Then a frightening thought struck her. ‘What about Fi?’
‘I’m sure Sebastian will have a few things to say to him if he bothers her again,’ Gabe said, giving her a gentle squeeze. ‘If not, then we’ll have to think of something else.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, hating that she couldn’t manage to sort Aaron out by herself.
‘It’s fine. Sometimes we all need to ask for help, even though we don’t like to.’
She could tell he was referring to his project. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m not sure,’ he said quietly. ‘But I’ll work it out somehow. Right now, I just want to be certain you’re OK and that he doesn’t bother you again.’
She glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see no sign of Aaron. Then focusing her attention back on Gabriel, Daisy had to resist suggesting he ask Lydia for a loan. She sensed that she was the last person Gabriel would accept money from though, so said nothing. His parentsworked to keep their hotel going. She wished she could think of a way to help him.
Playing over what Gabriel had said to Aaron, Daisy asked, ‘Did you mean what you said back there?’ They began walking up the stairs to his grandmother’s garden. ‘About everyone in the island knowing everything about everyone’s business?’
He shook his head and laughed. ‘It is hard to keep a secret here sometimes,’ he said, pulling her to him in a soothing hug. ‘But no, there are approximately ninety-nine thousand people living here and we couldn’t all possibly know what everyone is doing. I should think it was probably like that in the earlier part of the twentieth century though. Then there were people who didn’t leave their parish. It was a much closer community and I doubt you could get away with much. They’d certainly notice a stranger.’
‘So how will we know if Aaron does come back?’
He kissed the top of her head. ‘You’re not the only one who knows what he looks like now, or how he behaves. You’re safe here, Daisy.’
The relief of having someone on her side, who she didn’t have to look out for, or protect against Aaron, was immense. ‘Thank you. I used to have trust in my abilities to control my privacy, but he somehow manages to get close to me whenever he wants and I can’t seem to find a way to stop him.’
‘You’re not on your own now though, Daisy,’ Gabe said. ‘It’s time for you to relax and enjoy being here on this lovely island. You’re one of us now, Daisy, and we look after our own.’
Daisy was trying to find a way to get Fi to speak to her. The atmosphere since their shift had begun was making them both miserable and she’d had enough. She opened her mouth to speak, but upon hearing footsteps she looked up tosee a tall, dark man in a grey suit walking with an air of confidence into the hotel.
‘Hello, Sebastian,’ she said, thinking how immaculate he always appeared.
He stopped in front of the reception desk. He smiled at his sister and then looked at Daisy. ‘Good to see you again, Daisy. I wanted to pop in and thank you for helping Fi.’
Daisy didn’t look at Fi. She might have been proved right to accuse Aaron like she had, but she sensed that Fi was still a little crushed by the whole episode and knew better than most how it felt to have been humiliated by his web of lies.
‘Is Gabriel around?’ Sebastian asked. ‘I was hoping to speak to him personally and thank him for phoning me and letting me know what was going on.’
‘Do you have to do that now?’ Fi asked, blushing. ‘I’m sure he’s busy.’
‘He is,’ Daisy agreed. ‘He’ll be in a meeting for the next half an hour or so.’
Fi looked around the hallway and leant forward. Lowering her voice, she added, ‘He’s trying to raise funds to keep his project going, and I don’t think he’s having much luck.’
‘Project?’ Sebastian frowned. ‘Why don’t you tell me a little about it?’
Not sure how much Gabriel would want them to say, Daisy decided that he needed help and if Sebastian Fielding could possibly help then she was willing to take Gabriel’s irritation if she ended up inadvertently saying too much.
