She felt a shiver of annoyance, but quickly checked herself. She must never forget what he’d suffered and how much he still needed support. It was a miracle she’d persuaded him to come on holiday at all. She hoped Harriet, wherever she might be, was looking down on them and smiling.
Will started swimming in Stella’s direction and she waded out to meet him. His feet soon touched the ground and he began to emerge, soaking wet, with a cheeky grin on his face.
Stella read his mind. ‘Don’t you dare splash! I’ll kill you!’
He laughed and teasingly flicked water at her before running to join the others. She braced herself. She was up to her hips now and there was no point delaying any longer.
A little way in front was a small wave, not much more than a ripple, really. Taking a deep breath, she plunged in headfirst, still hanging onto her mask and snorkel.
The cold made her go numb and her heart raced, but it was exhilarating, too. She came up, gasping for air and almost crashed into Jon.
‘Oh! You made me jump!’
‘Sorry.’ He was waist deep in the water and standing rather stiffly, his eyes darting this way and that.
‘It’s cold but lovely,’ she said, wondering what was making him so nervous. She began to put on her mask. ‘I’m going on a fish safari.’
‘Wait!’
Startled by his tone, she stopped in her tracks.
‘Come with me,’ he commanded.
Before she had time to ask why, he took hold of her upper arm and started to pull her away from the beach.
‘Where are we going?’
‘There.’ He pointed with his other hand to a rocky area at the edge of the bay. ‘There’ll be plenty of fish round those boulders.’
Now she knew what he was planning, she felt more comfortable, though his manner disturbed her. She was relieved when he released his grip and they started to half swim, half wade in silence past the taverna towards the cliff edge, well away from the others, who became nothing more than distant pinpricks.
After a while, he led them into a patch of deeper water where they could no longer touch the bottom and had to swim. He seemed to know exactly where he was aiming.
‘We’ll head for that big rock just ahead. It looks like a good one to sit on.’
She felt like saying she wanted to explore, not sit around, but feared sounding curt and hurting his feelings. Besides, he was so focused on reaching his destination, she doubted he’d even hear her.
When they were just a few feet from the rock, she put the snorkel in her mouth and started to pull down her mask. Once again, he stopped her.
‘Wait a minute – please. I need to talk to you.’
There were deep wrinkles on his forehead and he kept blinking, as if he’d developed a nervous tic or had something in his eye.
Stella’s heart pitter-pattered. ‘What about?’
When he didn’t reply, she was gripped by a powerful urge to swim back to shore. She could pretend she felt sick, but he’d know she was lying. She’d have to hear him out or risk causing serious offence.
He started to scramble up the side of the boulder, covered in bits of vegetation and crusty-looking barnacles.
She followed as quickly as she could and in the process, nicked her calf on something spiky. It was only a small scratch but looking down, she could see it was bleeding profusely. Damn. Another injury to add to her ever-growing list.
As soon as he was standing on top of the rock, he bent down to help her and reluctantly, she let him grip her by the wrists and haul her up. She felt a bit like a piece of furniture, but he was stronger than he looked and it was all over quickly.
At first, she couldn’t find a comfortable place to sit. The rock looked reasonably flat, but on closer inspection, there were lots of hard, spiky bumps on the surface. After shuffling back a bit and sweeping off some loose stones, however, she managed to find a smooth enough patch on which to settle.
Her calf and foot were covered in blood, washed to a pale, pinkish red by the water. Jon’s frown was so deep, she might as well have broken her leg in several places.
‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you climb up. It was stupid of me.’
