The citrus grove was an oasis. The dappled light and the smell of citrus in the air gave the place a surreal quality. There was nobody around. The trees were laden with fruit, bright yellow orbs nestled in bunches among the waxy leaves. Milly and Brian were in their element.
‘Oh, babe, that bikini looks so great; it was meant to be.’ Brian was in photographer mode. It was true, the pictures would be worth the trek. Milly was leaning against the trunk, her butter-coloured gingham bikini top and matching shorts contrasting against the dark foliage and picking up the yellow of the grapefruits hanging just above her shock of bright red hair. The streaks of sunlight would give the photos a startlingly dramatic quality, which some of Milly’s 3.2 million followers would spend the rest of the summer trying to recreate.
Sofia laid down the wicker basket, which housed two bottles of decidedly warm champagne, two glasses and a picnic blanket.
Jack was halfway up a tree, with a grapefruit already in hand, and he yelled down to her: ‘Sofia, I need you and that basket.’
She stood below him as he dropped the fruit down. With his trousers rolled up, Sofia found herself face to face with his calves. She was not in the habit of staring at men’s legs but she decided that, of the ones she had paid attention to, these were some of the nicest. She had to admit that he was a good-looking guy and there was something about the ease with which he existed in his body. As if it was an instrument he had perfected, tuned and toned to play any symphony he put his mind to. He steered a boat as naturally as he climbed a tree or followed a compass. Sofia was envious of his surety about his place in the world. Maybe that was why she had taken against him so instantly?
‘Harlow,’ he called, ‘think fast,’ and just as she looked up, a grapefruit whistled past her ear. Instantaneously all the goodwill she had just cultivated was gone.
‘Can you please watch out,’ she yelled back.
‘Damn I just missed you.’ Sofia wondered if this was his idea of flirtation, a schoolboy’s technique, pulling on her ponytail until she agreed to kiss him under the slide.
‘Please, Jack, I’m tired and grumpy, and I think we have enough grapefruit now.’ He slid down the trunk and landed firmly on his feet, a wide grin across his face.
‘What on earth have you got to be grumpy about? Look around!’ There was nothing that made Sofia less cheery than being told to cheer up. She scowled at him and began laying out the picnic blanket.
‘I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this before, and I’m only saying this because you don’t have a drink in your hand,’ he continued even after she shot him a look, ‘but you can be kind of uptight, Sofia.’ They had never discussed that evening at the bar, and Sofia was thrown by his sudden candidness. He was pushing his luck, but something about his boyish enthusiasm was infectious. Despite herself she let out a giggle.
‘Now that’s an unexpected reaction.’ He seemed genuinely taken aback.
‘I do have a sense of humour, Jack, I just don’t enjoy being hit on by men who are simultaneously hitting on every other woman in the vicinity.’
‘Ohhh, so you were just jealous?’ He was standing with his hands on his hips, and he raised a single eyebrow.
‘If that’s what you want to tell yourself, go ahead!’
He shook his head with a chuckle and busied himself opening a bottle. It was the first time they had managed to joke with each other without one of them having a tantrum. Sofia was relieved.
After the four of them had gorged themselves on grapefruits, and Milly had finished off the champagne, they made their way back to the cove.
‘If everyone isn’t too tired, I think we should try and get to the caves before we head back.’
Everybody looked at Milly, who was swaying slightly from side to side, scrolling through pictures on her phone.
‘What do you think, babe?’ Brian prompted.
Milly looked up, blinking slowly. ‘Whatever, babe – sounds good!’
Brian dropped his voice as Sofia and Jack turned away to pack up and take their shoes off. ‘Maybe you could take a couple of shots of me, babe? I looked this place up and it looks really good. I need something from this trip for my grid.’
Sofia glanced over her shoulder to catch a moment of tenderness that seemed unwarranted for the subject of the conversation.
Milly placed her palms on either side of Brian’s cheeks, bringing him towards her so they were standing nose to nose. ‘It’d be my pleasure,’ she purred before diving in for a drunken kiss. Sofia quickly looked away.
‘Right, ready to board.’ Jack held out his arms to Sofia.
‘Oh you’re talking about yourself, not the boat?’ He laughed and raised an eyebrow. ‘On this occasion I think I can manage myself, thank you, Captain Carter,’ said Sofia as she waded into the water towards the tender.
‘If you lovebirds are ready,’ Jack called.
Milly giggled and Brian lifted her into his arms. Sofia caught herself staring at them with a mixture of fascination and incredulity. Surely it couldn’t be that easy? Maybe she had got it wrong all these years, and the only thing standing between her and true love was a willingness to giggle and bat her eyelashes. Maybe she’d been too dismissive, and Milly had it all figured out. Soon they were back on the boat motoring along to their next stop.
Chapter Fourteen
The ‘Grotta Azzurra’, which Jack translated – quite unnecessarily, thought Sofia – as the ‘Blue Grotto’ was fairly unassuming from the outside, a craggy archway in a wall of cliff. Jack slowed the boat to a steady chug and manoeuvred through the opening. Suddenly everything was blue. The water seemed iridescent as the daylight lit up the sea from below, a bright bulb backlighting a brilliant azure.
