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Cameron scanned the water’s edge. Isla was sitting on the sand, staring out to sea. He addressed the others. “Back in a minute.” He rose from the lounger and started toward the water, taking a glance over his shoulder. Nina was watching him. He held her gaze for second, his heart rate picking up. Then he wrenched his eyes away and set off over the sand.

Before long he closed the gap to Isla, sitting next to her. He handed her a bottle of suntan lotion that he’d lifted from the lounger prior to his departure.

Isla smiled. “Thanks. I’m cooking out here, but I didn’t want to give Nina the satisfaction of me coming back for it.”

He laughed as she started applying the cream, looking out across the breaking surf.

Isla sighed.

Cam glanced at her. “Want to talk about it?”

She blew her fringe out of her eyes. “I don’t really know where to start.”

He leaned back onto his elbows. “At the least painful part and work your way along?”

Isla laughed. “It’s all painful.” She rubbed her eyes under her sunglasses. “This isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Cam didn’t have to ask what she meant.

Isla drew in the sand with her finger. “I thought I wanted it, but once I had it I realised it could be a poisoned chalice.”

“The fame,” he said.

She nodded. “Everything was so much fun and such a novelty. Then, as it snowballed, I had less and less time for my family and friends. I feel like I’m losing a grip on reality at times.”

He touched her arm. “We all feel that way. Just reach out to them, and they’ll still be there for you.”

Her voice wobbled. “That’s what I’m trying to do, why I called Nina to ask her out here. But I still feel like I’m losing her.” Isla glanced back to where Nina and Ash were laughing together on the lounger.

Cam shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. She’ll still always be your best mate, even if she makes new ones. From what you’ve told me, she’s one in a million.”

Isla swallowed. “She is.”

Cam leaned onto one side so that he was facing her. “Look… I’m no expert when it comes to being well adjusted to fame, but you need to talk to her. She doesn’t strike me as the unempathic sort.”

“I know,” Isla said. “I’m just struggling to find the words—and stuff keeps getting in the way.”

Cameron wished he could fix it for them—and not because their issues were a roadblock to making his track. He was rooting for them out of empathy because he’d been through it all too and hadn’t come out the other side unscathed.

Isla looked away. “Have you heard any more from Noah?”

“Not yet,” Cameron frowned. “Didn’t you guys eat with him last night?”

“Yeah,” Isla said.

“But neither of you are sick.”

Isla nodded. “Good point. And we shared everything too.”

Cam took out his phone. “I’ll call him.” He lifted it to his ear. It rang right out onto voicemail. He left a message saying that they all hoped Noah was okay and to message an update when he could.

He put the phone away and studied Isla. Her shoulders appeared tinged with red, despite the recent application of sun-factor fifty. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go get some shade and something to eat.”

He stood, brushing away the sand, and Isla reluctantly followed suit. They headed back to the others in silence and Isla lay on her lounger, not speaking to anyone. Ash fetched the cooler and handed out the food as if she’d been the one to pack it. Cameron just let her take credit.

They ate their lunch, listening to Ash’s chatter but with nobody else joining in. Ash seemed oblivious. Cam could cut the tension with a knife. He’d been planning on asking Isla to go back to the villa so he could show her what he’d worked on in the studio that morning, but there’d be no point with the current creativity-killing vibe.

After they’d eaten, Nina excused herself to go for a swim and Ash said she’d go with her. Cam lifted out his baseball cap and pulled the peak down over his eyes in an effort not to watch Nina take off that flowery sundress. He didn’t think he could handle it. Once the two of them had left the vicinity, he lifted he cap a little, admiring her form as she headed toward the surf. Ash hung around at the water’s edge taking selfies, while Nina waded in fully, jumping over the breakers until she was swimming out into the sea.