“Sorry.” I’m conscious of how slowly I’m going. With his long legs, he’d be home by now if it wasn’t for me.
“For what? You’re my guest. I need to make sure you’re taken care of.”
Again my mind goes to filthy places. I can’t stop it, the painkillers and exhaustion making everything feel like an effort. I need to fall into bed and sleep for twenty-four hours. Alone.
We take the pathway to my cabin, fairy lights like little stars lighting the way. The ocean whispers nearby, a shifting presence in the darkness, as the moon shines a silver path along the waves. Despite my pain, I’m enchanted.
“This place is so beautiful,” I breathe.
“I try and keep it in good order.”
I glance at him. His hands are behind his back, clasped together. I sense that he’s holding back, as though he’s barricaded part of himself away. I wonder again what caused him to drop out of the world the way he did. It’s none of my business, though. And I don’t imagine he’ll appreciate me asking about it. Still…
“In good order?” My voice lilts upwards.
He grins. “Yeah. Sorry. It is gorgeous. And I do know how lucky I am. It’s just… I also work hard to keep it that way.” Something flickers across his face, a hint of disquiet.
“Do you own all the land between here and the town?”
He shakes his head. “Just these acres at the end of the peninsula. The jungle land between here and the village is owned by someone else.”
Again there’s tension, his jaw flexing. I file it away. Another layer of mystery to this man. We’ve reached my cabin. As we stop, turning to each other, it feels like a date. Like I might kiss him, ask him if he wants to come in for coffee or more. How ridiculous of me.
Still, he doesn’t seem in any hurry to leave. He chews his lip, looking out to sea for a moment. Then his gaze comes back to me. “Would you like a tour? Day after tomorrow? I can take you around the island, if you like.”
“Really?”
“Unless you have other plans?”
“No, I don’t.” Unless lying on my bed trying not to message Zach while eating everything in sight counts as a plan. “It’s not like I’ll be surfing anytime soon.”
He nods, once. “That was my thought. All right. I’ll see you then. 10 am.”
“See you then.”
But he’s already gone, striding back towards his house, which looms like a boat stranded on the shoreline. I watch him go, his broad shoulders, his long easy stride.
A mystery, indeed.
Axel
When I wake the next morning, I go through my usual routine; stretching, shower, coffee. It’s something that usually eases my mind, an anchor point to start each day. But, for some reason, I can’t seem to settle. I give up on the stretches, taking a quick shower and towel down roughly before grabbing my coffee and heading into the workshop.
There’s no peace for me there, either. Jade’s board is in the rack, waiting to be repaired, her poster on the wall next to it. I try not to look at her lush golden curves, try not to remember how she felt in my arms. But her jade-green gaze seems to follow me around the workshop, to the point that I end up taking the poster off the wall and throwing it out. Then I feel ridiculous.
She’s a guest. She’s also a pain in the ass.
Okay, maybe that’s unfair. She didn’t start the fight with Mish last night, and now she’s out of the water for a week at least through no fault of her own. That’s why I asked her out, I tell myself, as I set up to start work on her board. I’m just being a good host.
I’m good at lying to myself, too.
I take her board from the rack, putting it on the workbench. It’s pretty badly dinged, but nothing I can’t repair. The broken tip is probably the worst part, and the missing fin. I can get a replacement for the latter, though; I still have contacts in the supply chain, though they don’t know who I am.
I start working, losing myself in the precision of shaping. The weight, thickness and curve of each board is different, at least in my workshop, each one tailored specifically to the needs of the customer, and the waves they prefer to ride. Jade’s board is a beauty; from the late 70s or early 80s if I’m right. I wonder where she got it from. They do show up on the market from time to time, but this one seems perfect for her in terms of proportion. If she didn’t buy it herself, it was obviously a gift from someone who knows her, and how she surfs, very well.
My mind goes to her boyfriend. An absolute gun of a surfer, one of the best in the world. Like Jade. I know he has one of my boards; saw him boasting about it on social media a while back. He was up-and-coming when I left the circuit, so I don’t really know him. But something about him rubs me the wrong way.
I frown, bringing my mind back to the task at hand. Who Jade chooses to sleep with, or accept gifts from, is none of my business. I’m going to show her around the island tomorrow, so she at least knows where everything is, and then I’ll leave her in peace. Even if the sound of her tears, the first night she was here, plays in my mind like the sigh of the ocean, and her frangipani scent seems to follow me around. It’s just a physical reaction, that’s all. I haven’t been close to a woman in a long time, and holding her in my arms must have awakened something. It’s nothing I can’t manage.
