Page 48 of Escape to the Sun

The three of them wandered through the cool interior space, filled with the vibrant work of local artists and away from that monkey. Ruth had considered she liked most creatures – apart from the obvious: scorpions, snakes, ticks… oh, and toads, she’d always had a problem with toads. She had thought furry creatures were all good, and yet something about the monkey’s tail, which had a life of its own, and the way its sharp little black eyes watched her… Ruth shuddered, refocusing on a brightly depicted scene of fishing nets, a fresh catch glistening in the sunshine and with a gorgeous piece of coastline in the background.

Hannah was circling the space, tailed by Millie who was asking questions about the artists’ techniques, or the style of the paintings. All questions Ruth would be completely incapable of answering. But it was clear that Hannah was fidgeting, as time ticked towards afternoon. Ruth smiled to herself as she watched the two of them chatting in front of a rainforest scene, thick and vibrant with more shades of green than she had thought existed.

She remembered how it felt to have everything trail away in the wake of finding someone special. How nothing mattered but spending time with them. And Ruth had no doubt Louis was proving himself to be very special, and was the cause of Hannah’s subtle watch checks, her glances at the exit from the gallery.

Walking across, Ruth took the bull by the horns.

‘Go back to the ship, Hannah. You don’t have to pretend you want to be here with us.’

Hannah’s relief was palpable. ‘Do you mind? I feel bad for having forced you to stay around Basseterre rather than exploring the island, especially if I duck out and go back now.’

‘It was always the plan to get some Christmas shopping done on one of the islands – the kids won’t forgive me if they have nothing to open.’ Ruth frowned. ‘Wrapping paper… Didn’t think of that. Can we even buy wrapping paper here?’

Millie shrugged, unhelpfully. ‘I know what you’ve bought, anyway. Even that little wooden dolphin you thought I hadn’t seen.’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake.’ Ruth thought she’d been at her subtlest with that one.

‘Well, if you really don’t mind…’ Hannah smiled her thanks and Ruth watched her as she headed, with more purpose than any of them had bothered with all morning, towards the exit.

Hannah crossed paths with a middle-aged man who was on his way in. He stood back, holding the door wide as she nodded her thanks and swept past him into the bright sunshine beyond.

‘Hannah said this one has given her inspiration for her new painting,’ Millie said, tugging Ruth’s attention back to the rainforest picture.

‘That’s good,’ Ruth said, frowning as something in the back of her mind rippled with recognition.

The man continued into the gallery, his face at an oblique angle to her even as she watched him smiling at the warm greeting he received from the attendant, and Ruth’s brow furrowed even more deeply. His smile triggered something deeply buried in her and she shook her head, doing her best to refocus on Millie. It couldn’t be.

The man wandered around in much the same way they themselves had, pausing to appreciate paintings, his greying flecks of short dark hair atop a tall frame giving little away other than that he was of similar vintage to Ruth, and yet…

He folded his arms, his back still to Ruth, and he tilted his head, his hidden gaze studying a clamour of fishing boats in a painting closer to an abstract style than anything else on display.

And then Ruth knew. Even though she couldn’t know, couldn’t be sure because she hadn’t even seen his face, not clearly, but that action – nothing special nor out of the ordinary, simply a tilt of the head – but the action did something to Ruth’s gut, right at the very bottom of it, in the place that only reacts when something fundamental shifts in the world.

Millie was saying something about the colours in another painting, but Ruth couldn’t shift her focus from the back of the man’s head, as other aspects of his physicality slotted into her growing recognition. Wide shoulders, the left slightly lower than the right – the result of a broken collarbone as a kid. The way he folded his arms and then ticked a single finger against the opposing elbow.

She was still staring when he straightened and turned, his expression full of mirth until he saw her. The smile slid away from his features, the gentle glitter of amusement fading as his eyes hooded and he frowned.

Ruth fully expected him to blank her, to see nothing but a mousy middle-aged stranger staring at him. Expected him to smile politely and move away – because he would never be rude, not even to a stranger. And that was what she was… now.

She hadn’t noticed his glasses, only registering them as he pushed at the bridge. She wondered when he’d started wearing them. They suited him.

Ruth swallowed, her throat dry as she tried to work out what to do. Noticed the wedding band on his left hand, even though he was here alone, and made to turn away.

‘Ruth?’ he said. ‘Roo? Is that you?’

Ruth nodded. ‘Yes. Hello, Teddy.’

26

Hannah had tried not to make it too obvious, but it was as though a different kind of madness now inhabited her. She remembered her feelings when she first boarded the Ballygowan, how she’d thought herself filled with madness then, how she hadn’t known what to do with herself past running away from what Ian had done to her. How the whole idea had been its own kind of craziness and she’d been sure she should have stayed at home and worked things out properly. That it felt insane to be doing the opposite.

The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself it wasn’t pure lust – although there was no doubting her absolute animal reaction every time she saw Louis – she was sure there was more to it.

And that was bonkers because this was a moment in time, a holiday romance, a rebound affair – there were so many labels she could apply to what was happening between them. Except she didn’t want any of them to be correct. The label she wanted to apply was ‘love’.

But how could it be? She’d never really understood the whole ‘insta love’ thing, hadn’t understood how it was possible to fall so fast and so hard for someone you’d only just met. After all, her relationship with Ian had been built on solid foundations – and that was how Hannah had always supposed it should be. It made sense to choose someone who slotted into the life you had. And if Ian hadn’t messed around, she wouldn’t ever have looked further. She’d been happy. She’d always believed in what they had, which in turn had made his betrayal so devastating.

But now all her logical thoughts and plans had been blown out of the water by this amazing man.