A Family Holiday (31 page)

‘What is it?’ asked Charlie, peering at the small round object nestled at the bottom of the water.

‘I think it’s a coin,’ said Eleanor as a sleepy-eyed Millie padded into the bathroom and they all studied the toilet like cats over a mouse hole.

‘Someone made a wish,’ said Millie, giving in to a large yawn.

‘Or maybe it’s fallen out of George or Ted’s pocket,’ said Charlie, reaching in and pulling out the small brown coin.

‘Er, that means they were doing a poo!’ said Eleanor, running from the bathroom, closely followed by a screaming Millie.

Charlie ignored the shrieking as it ebbed away and studied the coin; it appeared to be quite old. She rinsed it under the tap and washed her hands thoroughly.

The girls were fascinated by the coin over breakfast and it passed between the two of them at speed, like money on a Las Vegas gaming table. George flopped into a chair and put his head on his folded arms.

‘George, look we found treasure!’ said Millie, wrenching the coin away from Eleanor.

George sat up and looked a little more interested. ‘Er, where did you find that?’ he asked, his eyes following it as Millie waved it around. He saw Charlie watching him and dropped his head back onto his forearms.

‘It was in the toilet,’ said Eleanor, screwing up her nose.

‘Someone made a wish!’ added Millie.

‘Do you know where it came from?’ asked Charlie, her suspicion rising.

‘No, not seen it before,’ said George, without looking up.

Ted bounded into the room looking a lot brighter and successfully took the coin from Millie, who was now waving it above her head.

‘Cool coin, Millie, is it pirate treasure?’ he asked, returning it to her before she could protest.

‘No
…
Yes! It’s pirate treasure!’ said Millie, hastily changing her mind and studying the coin more closely. ‘There’s a pirate on it!’

Eleanor leaned over for another look at the coin, ‘No, that’s a king, silly.’

Blue left the house early, grabbing the post from the side as he went and carefully closing the door; he didn’t want to embarrass Berta by being there when she got up. He was really pleased for both of them. It was funny to think of Tigi settling down, but perhaps Berta was the ideal woman to do it with. She made a Jambalaya that could vaporise your tonsils, which he knew was a sure-fire way to capture Tigi’s heart.

Blue loved the early morning in Antigua – before the tourists teemed out and before the party got started; it was tranquil and soothing. He opened his post as he went: the first was an insurance renewal for the boat, which made his eyes bulge, and he quickly folded it up and shoved it into his back pocket. The second was a job offer. The job he had attended an interview for weeks before and had almost forgotten about. This was what he wanted; his dream job in his dream location. So why wasn’t he ecstatic?

George came downstairs, washed and dressed, and looking a lot perkier than he had done. ‘I’m off to St Johns. Last-minute shopping,’ he said, as he turned to leave.

‘Not so fast,’ said Charlie. ‘Who are you going with?’

‘Er, Tigi.’

‘Does Tigi know?’

‘Well, no, not exactly. But he did say last night that if there was anything he could do
…
’

‘He’d been on the beer and, although I’m sure he meant it, I’m guessing he wasn’t planning on you testing his word today.’

George’s shoulders slumped and his expression became taut. ‘Come on, Charlie, I can get the bus. The driver will make sure I get off at the right place. I’ll be all right.’

‘Nope, sorry.’

Ted flew past them into the kitchen. ‘Ted’ll come with me. Won’t you?’ said George frantically gesturing his pleas to Ted from behind Charlie’s back.

Ted hesitated. ‘Er, yeah, sure.’

Reluctantly, Charlie gave in and went to round up the girls for their final trip to the beach.

If Charlie was feeling low when she had completed the stroll up from the beach for the last time, she hit a new level as she saw the police car parked in the drive. She tightened her grip on each child’s hand and walked up to the villa. She called out as she walked in and was quickly met by Berta.

‘You’ve seen the car?’ she asked. Charlie nodded and Berta joined her with a more exaggerated movement, ‘The police brought George back from St Johns and he’s telling some wild tales in there!’ She pointed to the living room and headed off to the kitchen, taking Eleanor and Millie with her. Charlie blinked hard and waited for her pulse to steady. Thank God the police aren’t here to arrest me, she thought, but what the hell has George been up to?

Charlie walked into the living room to find George in a chair, looking as if any colour he had had been scrubbed off. His lip wobbled as he saw her. She looked from George to the policeman. He was wearing a uniform of sorts; it looked very casual to Charlie and a little less authoritarian than at home, but the same old feelings of angst resurfaced.

Charlie smiled at the policeman, but turned to George. ‘Tell me what happened.’ George looked back at the policeman as if requesting permission.

‘I’m Officer Rodell Gayle. The museum called me out because this one was kicking up a fuss,’ he said.

‘Thanks, officer, but I want to hear what George has to say.’

George looked surprised that he was going to get his say at all, let alone first. ‘The truth please, George,’ she added, and his expression changed.

George ran his hand through his hair and looked as though he was fighting back the tears.

‘I had this idea that if we could miss our flight we’d have to stay a bit longer and you could sort out Uncle Felix,’ he blurted. ‘I thought if you got arrested we couldn’t go home.’

Charlie looked alarmed, ‘Arrested? What for?’ The last thing she had expected was for the children to be the ones that would dob her in to the authorities.

‘Nothing serious, only stealing the old coin.’

‘The one from the toilet?’ asked Charlie. The policeman looked as though he wasn’t following the conversation.

‘Yes. I took it from the museum when I was there with Blue.’ He hung his head. ‘Nobody saw and nobody had missed it and I had the idea that if I said you’d taken it
…
’

‘Problem was,’ piped up Officer Gayle, ‘that the museum staff were very understanding and pleased to get it back.’

‘Why did they call the police, then?’ Charlie looked from the officer to George.

‘I got cross and knocked over a postcard stand.’

‘You have to control that temper and there’s no excuse for stealing,’ said Charlie.

Officer Gayle butted in again. He put his hand up to hide his mouth from George’s sight, which was pointless as his voice was strident. ‘They’ve got a lot of those coins, it’s not worth much.’

‘But stealing is stealing, George.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said George, looking sorrier than a house-trained pup that’s had an accident. His big eyes scanned Charlie for a flicker of forgiveness.

‘I’ll leave you to deal with this,’ said Officer Gayle, and Charlie warmed even more to the laid-back approach of the Caribbean.

‘Thank you,’ said Charlie, and she meant it. Charlie heard the officer say his goodbyes to Berta, who he clearly knew quite well. Like Blue said, it was a small island.

‘George,’ started Charlie, but she was winded by George catapulting himself from the chair and hugging her tightly. She felt his sobs but there was no sound. ‘George, we’ll sort something out. But I’m afraid staying here isn’t the answer. Try not to worry.’ She looked round. ‘Did Ted go with you?’

‘Yes, but he went off to meet Esther.’

Berta had kept the girls occupied with making themselves sandwiches, and smiled knowingly as Charlie and a red-eyed George joined them in the kitchen. George sat down at the table and looked at the girls, who were looking at him. He shrugged and Berta passed him some bread.

‘Ted called. Esther will be here to do the haircuts in about twenty minutes,’ said Berta, and Charlie wondered if Blue would drive her over.

He didn’t. Charlie noticed a tear as Esther cut Ted’s hair and she felt some sympathy for them both. Ted’s first love and it wasn’t ending as most of them did in a blazing row. Charlie left them to say their good-byes and gave herself a little moment to be sad in the privacy of the bathroom. That was until the door flung open and bounced off the towel rail.

‘Found you!’ announced Millie, as Charlie hastily wiped her eyes.

‘Some privacy would be nice, Millie, please,’ but Millie had already disappeared. Life was still one big game to Millie and it made Charlie smile, despite everything.

The journey to the airport had been subdued, the scenes out of the windows now familiar pictures to Charlie. It seemed impossible that they had been travelling in the opposite direction only four weeks before. The time had streaked past them; even though she’d made the effort to savour every day, it had still raced past like the proverbial hare. Ted and Tigi exchanged a few words in the front. Ted looked quite different from the boy that had left London. Esther’s haircut had also made an impact, tidying him up around the edges. Tigi parked the van near a space and, as the others got out of the back, he bumped fists with Ted and a lot of manly slapping on backs followed before they straightened themselves and got out. Charlie and the others waited in a line like children in the school-dinner queue as Tigi and Ted passed them the cases.

Tigi hugged each of them in turn but lingered when he reached Charlie. ‘I lied to you,’ he said, his eyes full of remorse. Charlie looked uncertain and Tigi continued. ‘You asked me if Blue had lots of women and I told you that he did. I don’t know why I said that. It felt like the answer you expected, but it wasn’t true. He’s friendly with the ladies, all the ladies,’ he said with a stifled laugh, ‘but he never gets involved with any of them. He’s always a true gentleman. Despite my advice, he’s never made the most of the holiday trade. I’m sorry I misled you.’

‘Thanks for telling me, Tigi. I’m afraid it changes nothing.’ And she hugged him again.

Millie came back for another hug and looked very serious as he picked her up. She shook her head, ‘changes nothing,’ she said, mirroring Charlie, before taking her princess trolley and heading towards the airport building. Inside they were thrown into a melting pot of queues and noise. Somehow Charlie managed to herd everyone into the right queue. They checked in the cases with a very smiley young woman, who clearly loved her job. Charlie took the boarding passes and passports back and as she turned to leave the check in desk, there stood Blue.

Her heart flew up into the air but her expectations were on the ground.

‘We’ll be over there getting one last Wadadli,’ said Ted, with a wink, but it barely registered with Charlie as he ushered the others away.

Blue stepped forward and they were inches apart. ‘Charlie, I’m sorry.’

‘What for?’ asked Charlie, trying very hard not to cry.

‘For not being who you want me to be.’

Charlie felt the tears starting to pool and blinked them away. ‘Someone once told me, you have to be true to yourself. So I respect that,’ she said, and she meant it.

‘When things are sorted out with the children, would you come back?’

‘It’s not that simple, Blue,’ said Charlie. She pushed thoughts of losing them to the back of her mind. ‘I promise I’ll let you know what happens.’

‘Okay,’ he said with a nod. ‘I’ll miss you, Charlie.’

He pulled her into a kiss but Charlie barely responded, the tears were dripping off her face and it was all she could do to not start bawling like a toddler. The sadness engulfed her. She was going to miss Blue and she was going to miss Antigua – and knowing she wouldn’t see either again was too much to deal with.

‘I need to go,’ she whispered and pushed him away and, without a backward glance, headed for the toilets.

Blue turned around and could see the children sitting patiently. Ted stood protectively over them, his arms folded. Blue held up his hand in a half-wave but Ted didn’t respond.

‘Bye, bye, stupid pirate!’ shouted Millie happily. Blue took a deep breath and left.

Charlie joined the others, having patched up her face, and slapped on the best she could muster in smiles. Post-holiday blues were going to be kicking in for all of them.

‘You all right?’ asked Ted.

‘I’ll live,’ she said, pursing her lips. ‘Be glad to get away from the flies.’

Ted looked pensive, ‘What is it with you and flies?’

‘Long story. Come on, let’s get these through security and back to reality.’

Jonathan was pretty sure that it was the wrong thing to do, but he was going to do it anyway. He was going to speak to Fleur and get his message across like a man. Well, that was the plan, anyway. Mr Van Benton had provided his home details, so that was where Jonathan was heading. He was trying to think straight but all he had was a giant marshmallow of fog in his brain, so he was working on his instincts for the time being.

He pulled up in front of the house, had one last attempt at fog clearance and got out of the Audi. He wished he was a little taller and a fraction broader, but he would have to work with what he had. He wanted to run away but he simply wouldn’t let himself, this was something he had to do. Jonathan knocked hard on the door and could instantly feel an apology trying to surface, but forced it back.

The door opened and a well-dressed woman greeted him warmly.

‘Mrs Van Benton?’

‘Yes,’ she said, looking at him curiously.

‘I’m Jonathan Steeple and I…’

‘Oh, Jonathan, how lovely to meet you. Do come in,’ and she almost dragged him inside. ‘Thank you so much for all the support you’ve given Fleur. We are very grateful.’

‘It was a pleasure. Is Fleur in?’

‘She’s down at the stables, I’ll show you the way,’ and she frogmarched him through the house and out the back, across a perfectly round lawn, then pointed him at the stables and, with a wave, left him to it.

He could hear classical music playing as he neared the stables and someone was talking.

‘Now this is the last time. Do you understand? You have a serious attitude problem, Ralph, and you need to do something about it.’

Fleur came into view. Well, at least, her rear end did. This was not helping the brain spaghetti at all.

‘Hi,’ he said, completely forgetting about being more manly and forceful.

‘Ooh, Jonathan, you made me jump,’ she said, spinning around and self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ear. ‘I was talking to Ralph here,’ she said, indicating a very small, round horse that he would have sworn was glaring at him.

‘Hi Ralph,’ he said, with an almost jazz-hands wave before shaking his head in an effort to stay on track. ‘Look, I wanted to talk to you, Fleur.’

‘Don’t worry, I won’t get you into any trouble about all this I promise. I’ve not said anything to anyone.’

‘Oh, that’s brilliant because I was a bit worried…’ he stopped himself. ‘That’s not why I’m here. None of that matters,’ he said, remembering that he was meant to be manly and irresistible. ‘I want to talk about us. I don’t want to be friends.’ He was very pleased with his forceful delivery until he realised what he’d said.

‘Oh, I see,’ said Fleur, looking crestfallen.

‘No! Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I do want to be your friend. Obviously. Who wouldn’t want to be your friend? What I meant to say was that I want to be more than that.’

‘Oh,’ said Fleur, which was a lot less than Jonathan was hoping for.

‘I really like you, Fleur. I mean
really
like you. You came along and changed my world and, more than anything, I want to be the right person for you. But…erm… uh…’ he ran out of things to say and was aware that he was mumbling now, so he stopped himself and threw up his hands. ‘That was the end, the bit before the ‘but’.’

Fleur looked demure in her riding jodhpurs and shirt with the cuffs turned back. Even her forearms were sexy, thought Jonathan.

‘Jonathan, you are completely lovely and a very good friend.’ Jonathan felt his shoulders start to sag and he forced them back up straight. Fleur stepped closer to him. ‘You are so not my type. I never go for the nice boy with a good job and neat hair…’

‘But I could change…’ started Jonathan, self-consciously dragging his fingers through his hair. He was grateful that Fleur interrupted him as he had no idea where he was going with that.

‘Let me finish,’ she teased, ‘but this time I’m going to make an exception.’

She leaned in and kissed him and he felt like every heroine in every love film he’d ever seen and almost melted. Sod being manly, he thought, this beats manly any day, and he kissed her back.