A shadow crosses Michel’s face. ‘Remember those suits I told you about that I took on the joy flight? They own some huge conglomerate. Rumour has it that Xavier has done a deal with them as partners for the undeveloped land behind the resort. Done a deal with the devil more like. I told you this would happen. The guy came back with an ulterior motive. It was never about rejuvenating the Last Chance Resort.’
It’s the way of the world, so why does it feel like a kick in the teeth? ‘How do you know about the deal?’
He grunts. ‘You know what the island is like by now, Harper. Word spreads fast. It gets worse; he’s done some kind of dodgy deal with the Last Chance Resort to fund that project.’
‘What kind of deal with the resort? He wouldn’t give up this place, surely?’ Not with how tied to it his own mother is.
‘Word is that he’s sold a stake of this resort to fund the other one. He’s still the majority shareholder here and retains control of the Last Chance Resort. Apparently there were some conditions to the deal, including that the Cabana Bar be demolished and the new promenade will take its place and be expanded down the length of the beach. And who knows what else! I’m sure Xavier won’t give a hoot about this place once the rainforest next door is razed and he’s ready to build his great big eyesore.’
‘Wouldn’t local council, or environmental groups, petition to stop this?’
He shakes his head sadly. ‘It’s private land, there’s nothing they can do.’
I recall our first dinner where Xavier spoke about making the Last Chance Resort more eco-friendly. Or was he really alluding to a whole new resort? A different vision entirely? ‘Why would he do that?’
From what I know of Xavier, he just doesn’t seem the type. Although maybe I don’t know him as well as I think. Powerful men hide behind charisma all the time. Is he just like I first thought? The type of guy to pull the rug from under you like this?
‘Money. Why else? The Xavier I once knew would never have considered such a thing. The guy who returned, however, after his years abroad, would. Leaving the island changed him, and not for the better.’
I grapple to make sense of it all. ‘Where did he go when he left the island?’
‘He studied finance in the US. He didn’t get along with his stepdad at the time, and I don’t blame him for that. Mrs Bastille has been unlucky in love, and Xavier had had enough of watching them milk her for money – I guess that’s why he got so obsessed with it, having seen firsthand how easily it can be taken away. Why do women always fall for the bad guy?’
‘Well, because that rebellious, sizzling, commanding presence is hot and I guess we secretly hope the guy is a good one underneath all that. Blame romance novels for painting alphas in such a good light… Although lately cinnamon roll heroes have been having their moment, not to forget my personal favourite, the golden retriever types who are?—’
‘It was a rhetorical question, Harper.’
‘Right, sorry.’
‘My point is Xavier changed, became harder probably because at one stage it was touch and go whether they’d lose this place because of Mrs Bastille’s latest divorce. But why should we, the islanders, have to suffer for their bad judgement?’
‘This feels perilously close to victim blaming…’
‘Just calling it like it is. They do have a responsibility to the community, don’t they? Islanders are loyal to them, always have been. Keeping us all informed is the least they can do. But they won’t as they know we’ll rally. We’ll fight it.’
It’s a lot to process. ‘Do the expats know about the new eco resort?’ I can’t imagine they’ll sit there and do nothing. It’ll be chaos.
‘They will soon enough.’ He gestures to the three Lucys, who sit on the day beds with faces like stunned mullets.
There’s a niggle that I can’t reconcile. ‘Xavier wouldn’t hurt his mum by forsaking the Last Chance Resort, he just wouldn’t.’
‘You don’t know him that well.’
I know he’s a guy who takes feedback on board. A man who does an experiment wearing the polyester staff uniform to check if it is comfortable or not. He reinstated streaming, he stopped deducting from wages for breakages even though some of those ‘breakages’ were just staff reporting them as such when they were actually thefts and he was trying to send a message without firing anyone. That doesn’t seem like the type of man who only cares about the profit margin. He has delayed promenade redevelopment, which tells me he’s considerate of their feelings on the matter.
‘What if there’s something else at play here?’
‘Wishful thinking.’ Michel does a bitter laugh. ‘This isn’t a romance book, Harper. There won’t be some plot twist at the end that proves he cared all along. Xavier’s always seen himself as better than the rest of us. He’ll ruin our island, sell everything to the highest bidder and then return to the States, like he’s always wanted to do.’
‘You really think he’d do that to his mum?’ To the expats who helped raise him? To the staff he snuck in when they were kids? It doesn’t ring true, but Michel’s right – in the real world these sort of deals happen all the time, so why do I find it so hard to believe? Am I naïve? Or just hopeful that the man I’ve seen when Xavier takes his mask off is what he proports to be? A man who cares about his mum, this island and the people.
‘It’ll take years to build the new resort. And then he’ll sell. I’m sure Mrs Bastille won’t be aware of the entirety of his plans until it’s too late.’
‘Have you asked him about any of this?’
He scoffs. ‘Like he’d tell me the truth.’
‘I’m just not certain.’
