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Millie laughed, feeling as though she was on a first date when everything around her seemed so much more intoxicating: the colours so vibrant, the aromas so evocative, the music swirling through the alleyways causing her hips to sway to the St Lucian rhythm.
‘Christmas gifts for my sister and my friend, Pippa. I know Jen will probably use hers in one of her recipes, but Pippa will create the most delicious rum cocktails and it’ll be finished before Boxing Day!’
‘It’s a great choice. I know my brother would prefer a bottle of Caribbean hooch rather than the sweater Mum knitted for him last year with a huge red reindeer’s nose stuck on the front. You should have seen Callum and me on Christmas morning looking like a festive Tweedledee and Tweedledum – but if our sartorial road crash made her happy while she roasted the turkey, then it was no real hardship.’
Zach smiled but Millie noticed a shadow stalk across his eyes. She wondered what had caused it: the mention of his mother or his brother? She knew family dynamics could be battlegrounds but as they were having such a wonderful time she wasn’t sure whether she should ask Zach to enlarge on anything so personal.
They had paused next to a stall selling home-made jewellery fashioned from polished pebbles and leather thongs. Millie thought immediately of Lottie, no doubt at that very moment rushing around the veranda of the Purple Parrot serving fragrant omelettes and rich dark coffee to its discerning patrons, and selected a necklace made from linked seashells to give her as a goodbye present. When she handed over her money, her heart gave an uncomfortable lurch as she remembered she only had four days left on the island after which she would probably not see Lottie, Dylan or even Ella again.
‘Fancy a coffee before we head off home?’
Millie checked her watch. ‘I’d love one as long as we’re not too long – I really need to get back to the villa before Imogen and her party arrive. That’s if Imogendoesdecide to come today. They’ve got so much going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancelled so they can concentrate on the wedding arrangements. I wonder why the wedding planner’s suddenly gone missing?’
‘No idea. Come on, I need an injection of caffeine before tackling the drive to Soufrière.’
Zach indicated the patio outside a ramshackle café where a plump, jolly-faced woman, her dark hair streaked with silver, was busy brandishing a threadbare broom in a futile attempt to shoo away the dust and market debris from the pavement. As they approached, she ceased her melodious humming to offer them a wide welcoming grin, displaying a set of incongruously white teeth.
The sun was now well above the horizon, playing a game of hide-and-seek with a few gauzy clouds, and the temperature was climbing steadily. They sat down at one of the tables and sipped the thick dark coffee the owner insisted they sample. Unsurprisingly, it was delicious and injected a welcome shot of energy into Millie’s veins.
She felt so relaxed in Zach’s presence. Even if she ignored the electric current that was zapping through the air between them, sitting there with her face turned towards the sun, she felt as though she had known him for years and not less than three weeks. In that short space of time, she had been able to share with him the most excruciatingly embarrassing episode of her life – the night Luke had ditched her at their engagement party for her best friend’s mother. Until then, shame and mortification about what had happened had clung to her like a rash, so much so that whenever someone had looked at her for any length of time, she thought they could see it.
Of course, Pippa had had a hand in helping her to start coming to terms with the uninvited changes that had befallen her life, but she had been steadfast in her refusal to contemplate dating again. How could she trust someone with her heart after what had happened? But, strangely, unburdening her demons to Zach had ushered her much further down the path of acceptance than she had expected, and the burning humiliation that had been persistently present before she’d hopped on the aeroplane had melted to an almost inconsequential item of ancient history.
Was it Zach or was it the island paradise she had been so fortunate to spend time in?
Whichever it was, Zach’s presence had been an integral part of her emotional recovery and everything that had happened between them that morning at the zip wire ride was suddenly magnified sending her attraction to him into overdrive.
There was no denying their relationship had moved on to a new level, and that because they had both had the courage to bare their souls on subjects they had previously hugged close to their chests, their honesty had drawn them together and eradicated any awkwardness. She met his eyes, her pulse racing, ready to express how she felt and to ask him how he felt about her, but before she even opened her mouth, Zach had checked his watch and jumped up from his chair.
‘Come on, we need to cart all this paraphernalia you’ve acquired back to the car. How many students did you say were on theChocolate & Confetticourse? I think you’ve bought enough to feed the whole of Soufrière!’
Millie smiled, bending down to collect the carrier bags filled with a mixture of treasures. She only hoped it would all fit in her suitcase! As Zach paid the bill, she resolved to have the conversation she planned on their journey back to the villa.
‘So, what’s on the itinerary of the Paradise Cookery School today? Macarons? Petit fours? French horns?’
‘French horns?’ she giggled. ‘You can’t eat….’
‘Just joking! Oh, hang on, hang on… I’d better take this.’
Zach grabbed his phone from the back pocket of his shorts and glanced at the screen. In the split second before he turned his back to take the call, Millie saw the shock written boldly across his handsome features.
‘Hi. Clio? Why are you…’
There was a pause.
‘Here? You mean in St Lucia?’
Another pause.
‘But…’
Millie was frozen to the spot. Surely the person on the other end of the phone couldn’t be Zach’s ex-girlfriend Clio? The same Clio who had terminated their relationship because Zach hadn’t produced an engagement ring when she had suggested they moved on to the next level. Hadn’t Zach told her that she had met someone else almost straight away who had proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower? What was going on?
‘Well, I don’t see why you can’t grab a taxi…’
Zach had now turned around to face Millie, his eyes holding her gaze with a mixture of alarm and dismay. She noticed that his cheeks had coloured, and he was rubbing his palm across the stubble on his chin in consternation.
‘Okay, okay. I’ll be there in an hour.’
