‘So,’ she said, grinning at him. ‘What did you think? Was it your first time?’
He laughed. ‘Couldn’t you tell?’
‘I could,’ she teased.
He rested back on his elbows next to Melody, watching the sky morph into deeper golds as the sun slowly slid below the sea on the horizon. He had watched sunsets many times from this beach but never with someone he liked as much as Melody. He had enjoyed the beach yoga more than he had expected. Maybe he should take it up regularly, he thought. He certainly had a great teacher to hand to show him how to do it.
He looked at her, his heart rate increasing. She really was special. He would have preferred to be sitting here by themselves, rather than with his family.
‘It’s a long time since I’ve sat and watched a sunset,’ Lindy said dreamily.
‘Rubbish, you watched at least two from the ship,’ Gareth argued. ‘Although both were during the sail-away parties, so you probably weren’t paying all that much attention to them.’
Zac thought how lucky he was that he had both his parents around to share special experiences like this one. So many of his friends growing up had fathers who worked away a lot of the time and mothers who were frazzled trying to keep everything going.
‘This is so beautiful,’ Melody said quietly, her voice filled with awe. ‘I’ve queued to watch the sunset in Santorini in the past but what they don’t show you when you look at the travel websites are the hundreds of people around you each vying for a photo. This is perfect. There’s hardly anyone else here but us and there’s nothing else to distract from the view.’
He was glad Melody was impressed. ‘It is special, isn’t it? Keep looking and you might see the green flash just before the sun disappears completely.’
She turned to him but he pointed at the sunset. ‘Don’t look away.’
‘I’ve never heard of a green flash before,’ she said, amusement in her voice. ‘Are you sure you’re not having me on?’
‘He’s not,’ Lindy said. ‘I’ve watched the sunset many times and I’ve only ever seen it twice.’
‘I’ve seen it once,’ Zac said, hoping that he might be lucky and see it again tonight.
‘Wow.’
‘It’s a mirage,’ Gareth said. ‘Where the sunlight disperses through the atmosphere like a prism.’
Zac wondered why he hadn’t ever thought to look up the phenomenon. ‘Is it?’ he asked, without taking his eyes from the view.
‘It’s something like that anyway,’ his father said. ‘Keep watching. If we’re going to see it, we need to try not to blink.’
Zac stared but the sun finally disappeared and there was nothing at all apart from the sea to look at. ‘Ah well,’ he said, trying not to show the depths of his disappointment. He had wanted to give Melody something special to remember their evening. Maybe next time, he thought, hoping there would be one. ‘We tried.’
Melody looked down at him and pouted. ‘That’s such a shame,’ she said, lying back on her elbows next to him. ‘Mind you, it’s so beautiful down here that it’s not as if we’re not already spoilt with the scenery around us.’
He supposed she was right. He stared into her eyes, deciding to bring her back down here another evening, just the two of them. ‘Would you like to come here again with me sometime?’ he asked, before losing the confidence to say what he was feeling.
‘Just the two of us?’ she asked as if she had read his mind.
He smiled. ‘Yes. We can bring something to eat and watch the sunset again.’
‘I’d like that,’ she said, smiling. ‘Very much.’
Zac didn’t think he had ever felt happier. He wished again that they were alone so he could kiss her, instead he moved his hand so that it rested on hers. ‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’
‘Let’s eat this food Lindy’s put together for us,’ Gareth insisted.
The words were barely out of his mouth when everyone moved. Zac pulled a face at Melody, reaching out his hand to help her to her feet. ‘We’d better get ours before it all goes. This lot seems hungry.’
He stood next to her watching their mother and father help serve food on to everyone’s plates. After an immediate move to the table, Brodie, Zac and Melody were waiting with Lettie for Patsy to get her food first.
‘This looks delicious,’ Patsy exclaimed, holding out her plate while Lindy offered her various bits of meat.
‘Gareth will serve you any salad,’ Lindy said. She pointed to the second trestle table. ‘You’ll find the condiments, cutlery and napkins there. Please help yourself.’
