‘You said that ten minutes ago.’ Olivia’s stomach heaved as they rounded yet another corner. She knew Jacob was getting frustrated with her. They’d already stopped six times and the first three were within five minutes of them leaving, but it wasn’t her fault she was a nervous passenger.
‘Honestly, it’s just up there.’ He pointed in the distance.
‘BOTH hands on the handlebars, please!’
‘Sorry, my bad.’ He turned and flashed her an apologetic grin.
‘And keep your eyes ON the road.’
She dropped her head and rested the top of the helmet against his back, trying her best to follow the movement of Jacob’s body as it leant left and right.
‘Look!’ Jacob shouted excitedly. ‘You can see it now.’
With caution, Olivia lifted her head. Where moments agothere had been a wall of dense vegetation, there now lay a glistening stretch of ocean, as though it had simply dropped from the sky and appeared before them. She had to admit it was spectacular.
‘See, didn’t I tell you it was a good surprise?’ Jacob chuckled, steering the bike down a rocky dirt track. The smell of salt and the sound of waves hit them as they slowed to a halt, parking at the edge of a deserted enclave of golden sand.
‘Cool, huh?’ Jacob took off his helmet and admired the view.
‘It’samazing.’ Olivia felt the anxiety drain from her immediately. ‘How did you even find this place?’
‘What can I say? I got talking to some locals, asked for some recommendations, said I had averyimportant person to impress, and … voila.’ He gestured to the secluded beach. ‘Here we are.’
‘Yeah.’ She smiled shyly. ‘Here we are.’
Olivia took a moment to absorb the view, before rifling in her bag for her phone. She knew that Kate would want to hear about every single detail of the trip – therefore making photographic evidence mandatory – but also, Olivia had a sneaking suspicion that this would be a day she’d want to look back on.
‘You ready?’ Jacob asked.
‘I’m just trying to find my phone.’ She dug deeper into the depths of her rucksack. ‘But I can’t see … one second.’
‘I’m not surprised – even Mary Poppins would struggle with that thing.’
‘It’s not funny, Jacob, I need my phone.’ Her searching grew increasingly frantic as her anxiety spiked. ‘I would never have left without it.’
‘Maybe you left it on charge and forgot,’ he offered casually, her mild hysteria having no effect whatsoever on his mood. ‘I used to do it all the time.’
‘Shit.’ Through the thick fog of panic came a vision. Olivia plugging her phone in to charge. A last-minute decision to attempt to get as much battery as possible. To be as prepared as possible. And then what? How had it slipped her mind?
The bike.
Jacob and his ridiculous bike appeared.
She swallowed the angry accusation building in her throat, knowing deep down she couldn’t blame him for her mistake.
‘How could I have been so stupid?’
‘Hey.’ Jacob bent down next to her as she began to repack her bag. ‘It’s going to be fine. We have everything we need right here.’
‘But what if there’s a problem?’
‘There won’t be.’
Olivia looked up into Jacob’s calm face and felt her worry ease a little.
‘There’d better not be.’
‘I promise you. We’re in paradise, remember? Nothing goes wrong in paradise.’ Jacob stood up and flung his arms out ahead of him. ‘Now, shall we go and enjoy the delights of having a beach to ourselves?’
