They finished dinner, then Bea served caramel pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The sun had set by that time, and the mosquitos were out. So, they retreated into the house and put on the television. Dani sat with her legs over Bea’s and held onto one of Bea’s hands. She sniffled every now and then but otherwise didn’t say a word. They watched some meaningless programs together, and Bea pondered how it’d come to this. All this time, she’d longed to tell Dani how little she and Damien had in common, that he wasn’t right for her, that she should leave him and move on. But she’d held her tongue, for the most part, and now Dani had come to the same conclusion on her own. Besides that, she’d made a commitment to focusing more on her studies. It was everything Bea had hoped for.
“I’ll have to find a new place next year when university is back in session, but for now I’m going to stay on the island and finish my classes online this semester. Do you think we could do something fun together this summer? ”
Bea exchanged a look with Aidan. “I’d love to do that. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. I need some kind of adventure. I’m sick of working at the cafe, studying, and cleaning the flat. I want to do something that young people do. Damien never wanted to go out and do fun things. He was such a bookworm, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But sometimes I like to go out and see things, try new foods, meet people, have adventures. And I’ve hardly ever done anything at all.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Aidan said. “You should go to Europe. See something of the world.”
“Europe? Yes! I’d love that.” Dani’s grinned.
“We saw so many beautiful places. You’d love Italy… Oh, and Austria. Sweden was amazing, and the UK of course.” Bea listed off some of her favourite destinations after the trip she and Aidan took together.
“We have six weeks; we could do a lot. Couldn’t we?” Dani asked.
“We could fit quite a bit into six weeks. But it’ll be winter, so we might have to include a ski trip,” Bea said.
Dani clapped her hands together. “Can we please? I’ve wanted to go skiing for years and haven’t been able to afford it.”
“We’ll all go, and we’ll bring Harry and Grace too,” Aidan said. “My treat.”
Bea blew Aidan a kiss. “That sounds like the perfect adventure. Harry has two more years of study, so a summer in Europe will be just the break he needs. He’s been working so hard.”
“Grace is going to be over the moon too. She’s looking forward to spending the summer together and she’s never travelled overseas.”
“There’s something else I wanted to run by the two of you while Dani is here,” Bea said.
Dani squeezed her hand. “What is it, Mum?”
“I’ve decided to finally go back to university. I know I’ve talked about it a lot, but I’ve never actually signed up. Aidan and I have discussed it, and I’m going to apply to study next year.”
“What will you study?” Dani asked, her brow furrowed.
“Nutrition and food science,” Bea replied. “I know it sounds like it’s completely out of nowhere, but I want to study something I can do on the island. I’m never leaving Coral Island, so I need to get qualifications for a career I can do here. And I noticed there are no nutritionists on the island. I’ve already learned a lot about food and nutrition over the years, so I think it’ll be a perfect fit.”
Dani beamed. “That is amazing, Mum. You’ll be great at that.”
“Do you think so?”
“I know so.”
Twenty-Six
The Blue ShoalInn glinted in the sunlight. Charmaine tented a hand over her eyes to drink in the vista. The quaint seaside inn with the brilliantly blue ocean and the blindingly white sand as a backdrop. It was like something out of a postcard. Too perfect to be real. And yet it was, and she was meeting her friends there for lunch.
Inside the inn, a kind concierge showed her to a private space behind the dining room with closed doors. The dining room was decorated with several pieces of art and an entire wall of glass doors that opened out onto a large deck. Inside the room, Taya, Bea, Penny, and Evie were huddled around a pram, goo-ing and gah-ing over Penny’s baby.
“She’s so adorable,” Evie said.
“You’re a champion, Penny. No complications, you were amazing,” Taya said.
“Are you getting any sleep?” Bea asked.
“She’s waking a couple of times per night, but otherwise, we’re doing okay. Rowan has some time off work, so he’s helping me manage by watching her so I can take naps during the day. I have no idea how I’m going to cope once he leaves on a trip.”
Charmaine shut the door behind her, and they all looked up at once.
“Come and see Isla. She’s a doll,” Bea said.
