If she was to stick to the schedule she’d created for herself, a new blog post was due tomorrow, but it would hardly be cheery news or befitting of a high-end resort on a luxury island. That was something else she needed to talk to Zander about before she started writing.
There was hardly anyone about, mostly the staff clearing away the dirty plates at the tail end of breakfast. They’d be getting ready for lunch soon; an endless cycle of feeding the staff who looked after the guests twenty-four hours a day. A couple of the staff wandered over to check how she was, which was thoughtful of them, and yet she felt like an outsider, someone without a place any more. Her job on the island had literally gone up in smoke.
The last couple of days had gone by in a blur and she realised that she only knew the way to Zander’s villa via the bookshop, so she went that way, skirting the clearing to avoid where it was cordoned off. After the buzz of yesterday with so many people milling around, clearing debris away and making the area safe, it was sad to see it looking destroyed and abandoned. She retreated to the beach and walked across the hot sand in the direction of Sunset Beach.
‘Freya!’
She turned and shaded her eyes with her hand. Meena was pacing towards her, in a wraparound skirt and khaki-coloured blouse, looking effortlessly chic in the blazing heat.
‘You’re going to Zander’s?’ She caught up with Freya and gave her a hug. ‘It’s awful what happened; I’m so glad you’re okay.’
‘Yeah, bit shaken up and breathed in some smoke but I got off lightly. The bookshop didn’t though.’
‘It can be rebuilt. I’m sure that’s what we’ll be talking about today. I’m just so sad for Zander and for you after all the hard work you’ve put into creating such a wonderful and welcoming place. To think that could have been destroyed by one selfish person.’
Freya frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I heard one of the dive school staff was hanging around the bookshop late at night. Sounds suspicious to me.’
‘You’re talking about Aaron?’
‘You know him?’
‘I er... yeah, I do.’
‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he started the fire.’
Freya stopped dead, her heart thudding so hard it felt like it would burst from her chest.
Meena had walked on. She turned and frowned at Freya. ‘What’s the matter?’
Sweat erupted on Freya’s forehead. Meena wasn’t the only person who’d made the suggestion. Zander himself had hinted at the possibility. But it didn’t make sense. ‘What makes you think he’d do something like that?’
Meena strolled back. ‘There’s always been bad blood between them – on Aaron’s side at least, not Zander’s.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You look shocked. You know Aaron well?’
Upset, anger and uncertainty coursed through her. The image that played over and over in her mind was of Aaron climbing into her room that night in his mother’s guest house, followed by the shocked look on his face when he’d caught sight of her in the clearing, the bookshop engulfed in flames between them.
‘We um... we’re sort of...’
‘Oh. Say no more.’ Meena nodded, frowning. ‘Come on, we’d better get going before we’re late.’
~
The conversation on the beach with Meena and her comment about Aaron remained with Freya as they sat around a table on the outside deck of Zander’s villa. Freya had a hard job concentrating. Zander was leading the discussion with engineer Adam, Hassan and the resort manager Ali, while Meena made notes.
As Zander and Adam talked about the safety aspect of the building, Freya’s mind wandered. Things had not been right between her and Aaron since the visit to his mum’s. In the adrenalin-fuelled confusion with flames licking across the roof of the bookshop, Freya had only faltered for a second wondering why Aaron was there. But now...
She gripped the edge of the chair.
Why had Aaron been there?
Could it be true what Meena said? What Zander had hinted at?
Freya zoned out. Ali was talking about costs; Zander was looking thoughtful, a frown etched on his face, his hands folded together on the table. He had a quiet resolve and determination about him; the bookshop was his project after all. It was funny how she’d been so uncertain about him in the beginning, how he’d come across as arrogant, her opinion fuelled by the many things she’d read and his inappropriate questions. Over the past couple of days, she’d seen beyond that to someone who had changed, someone who’d let his guard down. It was perhaps that guarded side that came across as arrogance to those who didn’t know him. He was listening intently to Ali. He’d matured from his boy band days of curly hair and a cheeky grin, to a handsomeness that had got better with age; those high cheekbones, strong jaw, the hair tamed a little but just as lush, bleached in places by the sun.
Zander’s eyes met hers. ‘What do you think, Freya?’
‘I, um...’
Shit, she cursed herself for being so distracted.
‘The idea was to have a barefoot bookshop.’ Zander looked from her back to Adam and Ali. ‘We built one with glass and wood and air conditioning to protect the books, but now we have a load of books that whiff of smoke. I don’t want to chuck them, that’s a waste, but we can’t sell them either.’ He turned back to Freya. ‘So how about we set up a makeshift bookshop, but instead of selling them we treat it like a library for the time being. Guests can borrow books and once the bookshop has been rebuilt, we’ll restock it with new books and give all the old ones to a local charity. Sound good?’
‘It sounds a wonderful idea.’ A little hope seeped among the worry at the thought of her still having a purpose.
‘The questions is,’ Meena said. ‘Where?’
‘How about
