‘Enjoying yourself?’
‘Very much,’ she said. ‘This summer has been exactly what I needed. I’m so glad I let Gran persuade me to come here.’ She looked up at him and saw he was staring at her thoughtfully. ‘What?’
‘You’re very mysterious,’ he said quietly.
She shook her head. ‘I’m not really.’ Not wanting to see the questioning look in his eyes and feel like she had to open up more about her situation with Rhys, she looked ahead again.
‘It’s fine. I won’t push you to tell me anything you don’t want to, but I sense there’s a lot more to Patsy’s reasons for wanting to bring you here.’
Believing he deserved some response, she shrugged. ‘And you wouldn’t be wrong.’ She looked at him again and gave his hand a gentle tug when she stopped walking. ‘One day I’ll probably tell you more,’ she said, hoping that she would have the courage to do so. ‘Right now though, I just want to enjoy being here, with you and your lovely family, and Gran of course, and make the most of every second of happiness that this place brings me.’
He gazed at her with a look of such sadness that she couldn’t bear it. Wrapping her arms around his back, she pulled him to her and rested her head on his chest. ‘This has been an amazing summer, Zac, and most of that is down to you and how lovely you are.’
She felt him kiss the top of her head. ‘If there’s anything you ever need, Melody, I want you to let me know.’ When she didn’t answer his finger went under her chin and lifted it slightly so that her face was turned up to his. ‘You will do that, I hope?’
She stared at him and sighed. He really was amazing. ‘Yes, I will.’
By the time they joined the others, the temperature had dropped and Gareth suggested they pack up and make their way back to the farm.
‘You’re all welcome for a nightcap, if you wish, and for you, Brodie, having to drive home, I’m sure I can make you a cup of coffee.’
Once everything was packed into the back of Gareth’s car, everyone started getting into vehicles for the short drive back.
‘We’re being spoilt tonight.’ Melody got into Zac’s mother’s Golf, happy to have a few more minutes alone with him again.
‘We are,’ he said as he turned on the ignition. ‘I noticed my mother insisting Patsy went with her and Dad when Brodie offered her a lift with him and Lettie back to the farm.’
‘Where are we going?’ she asked when Zac turned right as the others went left out of the car park.
‘I’m taking you for a short drive towards L’Étacq and up towards the racecourse. As far as I’m concerned the view from the top of the hill is the best on the island. You can see the entire expanse of St Ouen’s Bay from there.’
She sat back happily and gazed out of her lowered window. The moon seemed enormous for some reason and its light on the sea was like a painting from one of her childhood books that she had loved reading time and again. They barely spoke and she wondered if he was just making the most of being alone with her. She hoped so.
They arrived at the farm about ten minutes after the others must have done.
‘I wonder who that is?’ Zac asked.
Melody peered through the windscreen, noticing Brodie and Lettie chatting to someone standing next to a car with an H on the numberplate to the side of the registration number. She now knew these were hire cars, so presumed the person must be a holidaymaker who had got lost. It was a man and she noticed there was something familiar about his stance, but she dismissed her initial thought as ridiculous and pushed it away.
Zac parked his car in the shadow of the larger barn and, having waited for her to step out of the passenger side, slipped his arm around her shoulder as they walked towards the front door of the farmhouse.
‘Ah, there she is,’ Lettie said. ‘I told you she wouldn’t be too long, didn’t I?’
She? Melody tensed. No one off the island knew she was here, apart from her mother, and she doubted she would have come this far. She and Zac stopped and turned.
‘I was wondering where you had got to,’ said a voice that made her light-headed and the blood in her veins turn to ice.
Melody stared at the outwardly charming man who was smiling at her, unsure whether she was about to pass out or throw up.
‘Melody?’ Zac whispered. ‘Is everything all right?’
She couldn’t move. Finally managing to swallow, Melody took a step away from Zac, his arm slipping from her shoulders. ‘What are you doing here, Rhys?’
She sensed Zac still behind her as she stared at the man she had hoped never to see again.
Rhys stepped forward, his hand outstretched as he looked past her and went to shake Zac’s hand. ‘Didn’t she mention me to you?’ Rhys laughed, shifting his gaze and looking into her eyes. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t tell your friends that you were married, Mel, sweetheart.’
‘Um, I think we should go and take the last of the stuff inside and join Patsy, Mum and Dad,’ Lettie said, lifting a cool bag from the boot of the car that Brodie immediately took from her.
