Page 47 of Escape to the Sun

‘Not in 1983 there weren’t,’ Nathan said.

‘No. ’Course not. But further back in history there were. There’s no sugar cane grown at all on the island now, the book said. But how do they make money, if there’s no crops?’

Nathan snorted a laugh, then waved at the people streaming past them from the Ballygowan, keen to make the most of the excursions they had planned. ‘They get money from us, you dimwit. From tourism.’

Millie’s eyebrows raised, as though for once her brother had said something apposite.

‘I suppose that’s right. I hadn’t thought about it that way…’

‘No. Because you’re a dumbass. Why do you think they’ve built these huge piers for the ships, and reclaimed all the land from the sea to build the terminal complex? All you have to do is google it and find out…’ Nathan shoved a hand beneath his flop of curly red hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he looked at Ruth, then stared at Hannah. ‘I’m going to head off.’

After Ruth had issued her demands for him to remain close, and to be back on board well before the ship was due to leave, and to take care of himself, and to phone her if he had a problem, any problem, of any kind, Nathan wandered away.

‘Laters,’ floated back at them on the breeze.

Ruth turned to Hannah. ‘Perhaps my son is taking more of an interest in our holiday than I thought. Where did he get all that from?’

Hannah grinned. ‘Google, by the sounds of it. He’d be daft not to make the most of this, though, wouldn’t he? These are a magical group of islands. Plus, if your kids do all the hard work researching the places we’re visiting, we can just relax and enjoy, don’t you think?’

Ruth laughed. ‘Fair point.’

‘That’s called slave labour,’ Millie piped up, then looked awkward. ‘I shouldn’t say that word here, should I?’

‘Nobody thinks you meant anything by it, Mils,’ Ruth said.

Hannah paused, an idea wriggling its way into her mind. She waited for Millie to get far enough ahead to be out of earshot.

‘I was wondering, Ruth. The other day Millie was telling me how much she wants to go snorkelling. And it’s something I want to do as well, so it occurred to me that we could go together, if that suits you? It could be my Christmas present to Millie, perhaps. What do you think?’

‘Did she tell you I wasn’t going to let her, or something?’

‘No. Nothing like that. I thought it might be nice, that’s all.’ Hannah swallowed. ‘It looks like St Lucia could be a good place for it, and we’re there tomorrow. It’s Christmas Day, which would be perfect. I just thought I’d suggest it.’

Ruth frowned. ‘But you will want to do stuff like that with Louis, won’t you?’

‘Maybe. Or he might need to be on board. I can’t demand he drops everything to be with me, can I? Not if he needs to work.’

‘You won’t have to demand anything from that man. He’s crazy about you.’

Hannah grinned as they wandered through the terminal complex and on out into a wide square, flanked with colonial-style buildings painted a variety of vibrant colours and packed with stalls, all clamouring for attention. Strings of pepper lights stretched all around.

‘It’s madness, isn’t it?’ Hannah said. ‘But I feel the same about him.’

‘There’s a stall over there selling T-shirts and keyrings and tree decorations,’ Millie said, circling back to them with a pointed finger outstretched. ‘Maybe we could find something for Nathan? I haven’t got him anything yet.’

‘Let’s go and have a look,’ Ruth said.

25

After a morning of sightseeing, shopping and generally indulging in more local seasonal treats than any one woman needed, Ruth felt utterly relaxed. Apart from the part of her that remained on high alert for Nathan, of course. God only knew how she was going to cope when the time came for him to fly the nest and head off to college or university. Not that she could see Nathan taking a hugely academic route through the rest of his education, if she was being totally honest, especially after he’d scraped the bare minimum in GCSE results needed to stay on at school.

Ruth frowned. That was her fault, too. If she’d kept quiet and remained with Trev a few more years, long enough to get both children through school – maybe that would have been better.

Although, she doubted whether Trev would have stayed, even if she hadn’t rocked the boat. Things with Janey seemed settled. Trev was living a new and, by all accounts, far happier life away from his family. Away from her.

It was a shame she didn’t seem able to repel the street hawkers with such ease. And if that guy with a monkey accosted her once more asking if he could put the damn thing on her shoulder for a photo – and a tip – Ruth thought she might just lose her new-found relaxed attitude.

Now in an area called The Circus, a shopping area modelled, according to the guidebook guru, Millie, on Picadilly Circus in London, the hawker was wandering in their direction again. Suggesting they should head into the art gallery she’d noticed proved to be a good choice.