She gazed out at the bay. It felt like everything could be taken away from her at any moment. The bookshop had felt like her space, a bit of paradise on an island that was the epitome of paradise, but she was heartbroken at the possibility that it had been destroyed by Aaron, someone she’d put her trust in, someone she’d opened her heart to, someone who had lied to her. Potentially he’d put her whole reason for being here at risk. He’d put her in danger and left her, never intending to get help. She bunched her hands into fists. Her uncertainty about him had slowly been building ever since his mum had surprised them with the family lunch that had dredged up history that Aaron had wanted to keep hidden and a truth that Freya had known nothing about. And now this.
‘I thought you’d left.’ Maryam joined her on the edge of the deck. She smoothed out her tunic dress and folded her hands in her lap.
‘Not yet, not without saying goodbye. But I’ll go soon. However much I want to, I can’t avoid Aaron forever.’
‘You certainly can’t. It’s always best to face up to situations however uncomfortable they may be. It enables you to move on.’
Maryam had a wistful tone to her voice as if there was the weight of experience behind her words. That was one thing Freya was not prepared to put herself through again, allowing someone else to have such a negative impact on the way she felt. Over the past few weeks Aaron’s actions and his secret had had a similar effect on her mental health like when Owen let her down when she needed him most. She wasn’t going to put up with it any longer. She wouldn’t put up with it.
‘Do you miss your family?’ Freya asked, wanting to change the subject and get her thoughts away from Aaron. ‘I presume you spend most of your time living and working here?’
‘I do miss them, but Zander is as much family as my own flesh and blood. Without his kindness and generosity, life would have been incredibly challenging for us. My husband died in accident seven years ago, which is why I needed to work full time. My daughter and her family still live on the island I grew up on and my son has lived abroad since he was eighteen. He occasionally visits but we have the financial means now to travel and visit him too. I have a soft spot for Zander; I always have done. Despite his fame and fortune, he’s a tortured soul who’s dealt with a lot of sadness throughout his life, and I just want to see him happy. This island has begun to do that. He has a passion for making people’s dreams come true, which is a lovely trait, and I’d like to see his come true as well. This island is a start, the bookshop too.’
Freya didn’t know what to say. Loabi Fushi was as much an escape for him as it had been for her, for different reasons of course.
‘I trust you’re not in love with him?’ Maryam asked.
‘Who?’ The question took Freya by surprise.
‘Aaron.’
Her heart thudded and her cheeks flushed with the initial thought that Maryam was talking about Zander. ‘No, I mean I like him. I did like him. There have been other things that have made me question our relationship. I can’t be with someone I don’t trust and who doesn’t have my back. My last relationship was very much like that and I made a promise to never put myself in that kind of situation again.’
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Freya chatted with Maryam on the deck of Zander’s villa for another ten minutes before deciding it really was time she left. She walked back the way she’d come, across the sand to the path hidden among the undergrowth. It seemed even darker after the welcoming glow of Zander’s villa and she navigated her way slowly, branches snatching at her bare arms. It was humid beneath the trees and sweat dribbled down the side of her face. Insects chattered in the dry undergrowth and bats flapped between the tops of the trees. She was relieved to see the glimmer of the ocean through the thinning trees as she reached an empty Sunset Beach. Even though there was only a little breeze, it felt fresher out in the open. The sound of the waves lapping the shore were a tonic.
Freya reached the beach in front of the bookshop but decided to keep walking. She knew she was trying to avoid the inevitable, but figured if she stayed away from the staff village for long enough then Aaron would be asleep and she wouldn’t have to face him again this evening. A crushing tightness spread across her chest as she walked, a familiar stress reaction creeping up on her. It was the same way she’d felt about Owen when their relationship had disintegrated, but at least then she had physical distance between them. They hadn’t lived or worked together. They didn’t even live in the same London borough, so there was little chance of them bumping into each other, but here... There was no escape; no way she could avoid Aaron. She pounded across the sand until she was forced to slow down with the effort of powering through the silky grains. Villas glowed from behind their private screen of trees and laughter drifted towards her, emphasising her loneliness and disappointment of how her time on Loabi Fushi was turning out. It had been her escape, her few months to put her sadness, grief, and loneliness behind her, yet it now felt like it was all falling apart.
She stopped in the middle of the beach. She was nearing the jetty where the seaplanes landed and
