Dangerous Shadows

by Whitelaw, Stella

  They walked back along the beach till they reached a clearing in the trees. The palm trees leaned towards each other, making it a perfect arbour. Casuarina trees shaded the area with their branches and leaves.

  “Isn’t this a pretty place? This is where we are going to hold the wedding, here among the palm trees.”

  “It is really beautiful,” said Holly, wandering in. It was so cool and quiet inside the bower of leaves, almost like a green church.

  “I love it,” said Danielle. “My fantastic wedding on the beach.”

  “But it’s not very big,” said Holly. “Not many people could get in here.”

  “Then they will have to stand outside on the sand, or wait on the terrace. I bet most guests will be on the terrace, drinking our health,” Danielle giggled. “Only a few special people will be here for the service itself. You, me, Luke, Barry and the pastor. Two witnesses, of course. It will be very private.”

  “Aren’t your parents coming for the wedding?” Holly remembered her aunt and uncle well. She knew Grace phoned her sister frequently but rarely saw her now that they had moved to Cumbria. It was a long journey.

  “No, sadly. They are both not well enough for the flight and have hospital appointments. We’ll be flying home to the UK very soon after the wedding, to see them. And there’ll be the video to show them.”

  “That’s terrible, I’m sorry. Is that why you suddenly brought the wedding date forward? Because they are ill?”

  “Not really. I brought it forward because I was afraid Luke might change his mind.” Danielle gave a nervous little laugh. “He’s so busy all the time. I had to pick a time when he was free from show commitments.”

  “Surely not,” said Holly. “He’d never change his mind. He wouldn’t let you down. Luke’s not that sort of person.”

  “How would you know? Men can change their minds.” Danielle wandered in among the branches. “These trees are very pretty, but it’s a bit dark and gloomy inside,” she said. “I know the sun will be shining but what could I do to lighten them?”

  “Ribbons?” suggested Holly, remembering how for some photo shoot they had festooned everywhere with ribbons. “We could hang lots of ribbons from the trees.”

  “That’s it. Brilliant idea. I’ll buy masses of gold ribbon and hang them in loops from the trees. What a good idea, Holly. We’ll go into Bridgetown, to the market, and get the ribbon this very morning.”

  Good-bye to my quiet morning, thought Holly.

  They walked back to the steps and up onto the terrace. Their breakfast was laid under a shady umbrella. A nearby table was laden with a selection of juices and sliced fruit, different kinds of bread, cheeses and yogurts. Lily was waiting with a pot of coffee.

  “I’m famished,” said Danielle, flouncing down onto a chair. “Breakfast at last. Coffee please, Lily. Do you want coffee, Holly?”

  “Yes, please. Thank you. This all looks lovely.”

  Holly took a plate of sliced fruits, her appetite returning. The coffee was hot and strong. This was a civilised breakfast. But she still had to ask.

  “You said you brought the date forward in case Luke changed his mind,” she said, her mouth enjoying the taste of fresh sweet mango. The mangos that she bought at her local supermarket never seemed to ripen. “Surely you didn’t mean that?”

  “Yes, I did. Don’t laugh at me. This is going to be a very happy marriage and I know that we both want it, but if some work cropped up that was more important, I know that Luke would not hesitate to put it off.”

  Holly was not as shocked as she might have been. Work always came first with Luke. It was something she had learned very early on.

  “But when you are both madly in love?” she heard herself saying. It was a ridiculous comment. It was the last thing she wanted to hear.

  “Not exactly,” said Danielle, spreading her croissant thickly with butter. “We are not exactly madly in love. Let’s put it straight, Holly. I do love him, as a person, and he loves me, as a person, but we are not madly in love. There’s a difference.”

  “I don’t understand,” Holly faltered. “Is there a difference?”

  “Of course. I’m a bit older than you are. The biological clock is ticking and I want a family. I want children, and though I’d never admit it, not even to you, I’m not getting any younger. And it’s damned hard to find a decent man these days. The man I was looking for to father my children had to be powerful, successful, have consideration for others plus tremendous strength of character. I like good manners, charm, intelligence as well as the element of romance.”

  “Don’t we all,” Holly murmured. The dream man in a nutshell.

  “And plenty of money,” Danielle added, dabbing at the crumbs round her mouth. “I’m quite an expensive lady.”

  Holly didn’t answer.

  “So when I started meeting Luke, it seemed like fate. We didn’t date or anything, we simply kept finding ourselves in the same place, the same hotel. I soon realised Luke was the answer to my prayers. He would make the perfect husband and the perfect father. He would not be around too much at home, always getting in the way. He would accept parental responsibility and look after us. Luke Kenyon was everything I had been looking for in a man. So I made sure that I got him.”

  Holly felt a chill creep down her spine. “So you hooked him?”

  “Sure. Why not? I was looking for a husband.”

  “You mean, you are marrying Luke in order to have a child, a family? He’s the right man to father your family? It’s nothing to do with marrying him because you love him and can’t bear to be apart for a moment?”

  Danielle’s eyes hardened for a second.

  “No way, none of that slushy old-fashioned falling in love stuff. He understands that. He also thinks it is time he settled down. He’s been on his own for years and he’s getting on. It’s a very modern arrangement and suits us both.”

  “But don’t you … love him?” Holly could hardly get the words out.

  “Yes, of course, I love him. I’m not an idiot.”

  “And he loves you?”

  “Well, he hasn’t quite said that but I’m sure he means it. Look at this house, all the arrangements, my engagement ring. Doesn’t that spell out LOVE in big, bold capital letters? Love in diamonds?”

  Holly wondered how she was going to survive this wedding. It was an arrangement so that Danielle could have the family she wanted. Luke wanted to settle down, whatever that meant. It might be some kind of reaction to living out of a suitcase for years. He wanted somewhere permanent to recharge his mobile, his electric toothbrush, keep his favourite shirts. It was cold and commercial.

  “Does Luke know all this|?”

  “Well, sort of, not in so many words. We’ve not exactly had time to discuss it. He’s happy, so I’m happy. There’s nothing to worry about, Holly, so take that look off your face. It’s going to be a spectacular wedding. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll get a quickie divorce and I’ll have conceived the baby I want by then. Bingo.”

  Holly’s appetite fled in mid mouthful. She could not believe what she had been hearing. Should she warn Luke? Or did he already realise that he was merely a suitable sperm donor? Perhaps it was what he wanted too, a son to carry on the name, to follow in his father’s footsteps.

  The flowering garden around her no longer seemed a Garden of Eden. It was a chess board. Holly felt she was one of the pawns.

  And who was she to interfere in their arrangement? She could only make matters worse. They were both happy with this marriage. Neither of them were being dragged to the altar. It was an amicable arrangement.

  *

  Luke knew he had to go through with the wedding. Perhaps it was a good sign that he had seen Holly again and realized that she had grown into an attractive woman. Barry seemed to think so, too. He’d been flirting with her last night.

  It was a selfish thought but maybe Holly would enjoy some time with him on Barbados. He wanted some good memories to wash out the
pain of leaving her in London. He wanted her to forgive him. She was going to be the bridesmaid at his wedding. It was ironic.

  He drove over the ruts in the drive. They needed repairing before the next lot of torrential rain made them worse. He’d have a word with the rental company. They needed to be filled in before the wedding. Luke thought again about how he had no family coming to his nuptials. Despite his bubbly fiancée, he suddenly felt very alone.

  *

  Holly heard a car arriving at the front of the house and then footsteps coming up the entrance steps and along the side of the veranda to the terrace. She recognised his step, but when he came into view, she couldn’t look at him.

  “Darling,” cried Danielle, leaping to her feet and giving Luke a big kiss. “Have you come for breakfast? Lily will lay a place for you. Lily! A place for Mr Kenyon.”

  “No, Danielle, I’m not staying. I’ve only come by to see if there are any invitations ready to post and to make sure Holly is OK.” Luke turned and smiled at her. “Are you feeling better after a good night’s sleep?”

  He turned away and poured himself a glass of pineapple juice. That moment gave Holly a chance to re-arrange her face and pull the towel over her exposed bare thighs and legs.

  “Much better, thank you,” she said. “And we have had a wonderful swim. The sea is perfect. It was so refreshing.”

  “Everything is perfect here,” Luke said, toasting the two women with a glass of juice. “Here’s happiness to my two favourite women.”

  His eyes were twinkling as he spoke, but his gaze lingered on Holly. She was sitting perfectly still as if carved in alabaster, her tawny hair catching the sun’s rays. He had almost forgotten how special she could look.

  *

  The great cruise ship, Gloriana II, was easy to find in Southampton. Her many decks towered above all the other ships moored alongside the docks. She was white and gleaming and beautiful, flags fluttering in the afternoon breeze. Everything spelt luxury and grandeur for the cruise to the Caribbean..

  “Do you have a boarding pass, sir?” said the officer in a smart uniform with lots of gold and braid, standing at the bottom of the gangway.

  “No,” he said. “I’ve only come to see my aunt off. She’s booked into one of those balcony suites with a butler on A deck.”

  “But you’ll still need a visitor’s pass,” said the officer. He pointed to the glassed in area where the passengers were arriving, getting passports checked and being issued with boarding passes. “The last desk is for visitors.”

  “Of course. No problem. I’ll get one immediately. Thank you for your help.”

  “Don’t forget to listen for the disembarking announcement. All visitors have to be off the ship half an hour before we set sail.”

  “Don’t worry. My aunt is a first class fuss-pot. An hour listening to her complaints and I’ll be gasping for a double whiskey in the nearest pub on shore.”

  The officer grinned. He wished he had an aunt able to fork out for a suite with a butler. Some people had it easy.

  Chapter Five

  Holly still hadn’t seen the dresses for the wedding. They were being made by a local dressmaker and she would be bringing them to Tiger Bay Plantation House soon, in case there were any alterations.

  “She’s a wonderful dressmaker,” said Danielle, trying out different shades of nail varnish and holding her hands at arm’s length to watch them dry. “She makes all the dresses for the bridal shop in Bridgetown. Don’t worry, Holly. You won’t be looking like a lemon meringue pie even though primrose is my favourite colour.”

  “I’m sure the dress will be lovely,” said Holly, crossing her fingers behind her back. The dresses were a tricky subject and not something she wanted to discuss endlessly with Danielle. The more she thought about it, the less Holly wanted to go through with the wedding ceremony. She would be happier staying on the terrace, hiding behind a palm tree and drowning her sorrows in rum punch. Perhaps happier was not the right word. She would be out of the way.

  Luke had not stayed for breakfast. It was a flying visit to say good morning to his bride and the newly arrived bridesmaid. Holly swallowed her dismay at his appearance and had managed to say all the right things about the wonderful swim.

  “The water is so warm,” she said. “And so clear.”

  “Holly can really swim. She’s like a fish,” Danielle laughed.

  “Perhaps you’d like to go underwater swimming while you’re here,” said Luke. “I could fix you up with all the right gear. The shoals of tiny fish in the reefs are fascinating. You’d see thousands of them, all bright colours, striped and patterned. There’s even a tiny clown fish. It’s a fantastic sight, a magical world.”

  “It must be amazing,” Holly faltered. “A different world.” She didn’t want to go swimming with Luke. She didn’t want to spend any time with him above ground or underwater. Underwater together would be so special, so intimate, a silent world. No, she could not do that.

  “Count me out,” said Danielle. “It would ruin my hair. These angel curl extensions were expensive.”

  “There are lots of hidden beaches along the coast, secret beaches that no one knows about,” said Luke to Holly. “Bathsheba, Long Beach, Marlin’s Bay. I could show you them as well.”

  “You’ve never taken me to a hidden beach,” Danielle complained.

  “Because then it would no longer be a hidden beach. You would tell the whole world. It would be revealed in one of your glossy brochures.” Luke smiled at Danielle to soften the bluntness of his words.

  “I’d be terrified of snorkelling or anything underwater,” said Holly, putting an end to that conversation. She pretended to be absorbed in the application of local honeycomb to a slice of toast. “There’s no time anyway.”

  “I’ll leave you ladies to the wedding plans. And I’ll see you at the barbecue tonight,” said Luke, finishing his pineapple juice. “Don’t make too many changes, please Danielle.”

  He was probably referring to the change of date, thought Holly. She tried not to look at him as he left the terrace and went back through the house to his car parked out front. But she had to watch him. She had been starved of the sight of his tall, straight back and the way he held his head. It had been a long time since they worked together in London. Far too long.

  *

  Luke was kicking himself. He’d handled that badly. He was so desperate to have some time with Holly. He was not surprised that she had given him an icy cold shoulder. She had every right to, the way he had treated her. He deserved far more than a curt dismissal.

  He’d been told that the groom always buys the bridesmaid a gift. He wanted to buy Holly something really special, something she might treasure even if she hated him. Silver, of course. She was a silver person, not like Danielle, who was gold.

  Maybe a silver dolphin with sapphire eyes to remind her of swimming in the Caribbean sea. Designed so it could be worn on a chain or adapted to a broach. He’d ring the jewellers, see if they had any suggestions. Another call to make, but he was looking forward to this one.

  *

  They went into Bridgetown, Danielle driving the white Land Rover. Holly saw the point of the open sides now. The cooling breeze was delightful. They passed the brightly decorated local buses which had personalised names (Rosie, Debbie, Miranda) as well as route numbers, and loud reggae music blaring from their stereos.

  Shoppers waved and grinned at Holly from their bus seats and Holly waved back. Their friendliness was so unlike London, where people rarely spoke to each other, especially when travelling. But the use of mobile phones was as prolific. Nearly every pedestrian had an ear glued to a phone. And many of the drivers of buses and cars were on their phones. Holly didn’t know if it was against the law in Barbados.

  “People are so friendly,” said Holly after waving for the hundredth time. “It’s so different from London where no one talks.”

  *

  “It’s the gorgeous weather,” said Danielle.
“It produces the feel-good feeling. Even when it rains, it’s only a tropical downpour and is over in ten minutes. Then the hot sun dries everywhere in minutes. It’s like standing in a steam bath, steam rising from all the trees and leaves, even the ground.”

  “I hope it doesn’t rain on your wedding day.”

  “I’ve forbidden it to rain,” Danielle laughed.

  Danielle parked the Land Rover in an unmade side road and they walked through the old Bridgetown, along Swan Street to the Milk Market and Lower Broad Street. The stalls in Fairchild Street public market were a crowded abundance of delight, with local produce, fruit and vegetables, and lots of locally made handicrafts which tourists bought for souvenirs. Holly could have happily wandered for hours. She promised herself that she would, one day, be very touristy and wander.

  “There are several big cruise ships in today,” said Danielle. “Deep Water Harbour is quite new, built on the reclaimed land of Pelican Island. They’ll be arriving by the coach load soon. Just as well we’re early. We don’t want to be around when they descend on the market. It’ll be bedlam. They are like gannets - or do I mean locusts?”

  Danielle was hunting for gold ribbon. There was a haberdashery stall which sold every kind of ribbons, silks, cotton, needles, beads and sequins for the sewing big mamas of Barbados. Holly hoped Danielle was not going to be inspired by the bowls of sequins, glinting in the sunlight like piles of molten silver and gold.

  There were a dozen different styles of ribbon, plain, fancy, wired, fringed. Danielle decided on two inch wired, so that she could form it into big loops to hang in the trees. “Look what I’ve found,” she called out but Holly wasn’t listening.

  She knew she would definitely have to come into town by herself. She would get on one of those noisy and colourful buses and sit with ordinary Bajan women coming in to shop or meet friends. There must be a bus stop near Tiger Bay. Or perhaps the buses stopped anywhere along the road. Lily would tell her.