‘Fine by me,’ agreed Toby, who had helped himself to Kate’s towel and was rolling it into a pillow shape.
Alex dropped his vest and cap and waded out into the water in his denim shorts, leaving Kate to dither in his wake.
Robyn sat up to roll her bikini bottoms down a fraction. ‘Go on,’ she insisted. ‘Otherwise how are Toby and I supposed to gossip about you?’
‘So much for subtlety,’ muttered Kate, scanning the water for Alex. He’d already swum some way out and was beckoning for her to join him. The water felt wonderfully cool against her sun-baked skin, but the stones below her feet were sharp-edged. Far from making a graceful entrance, she hobbled, swore, then tumbled forwards with a splash, earning herself a hearty round of applause from the other two up on the rocks.
When she reached Alex, she tried to stand, but he had brought them out too deep.
‘Is this a good time to admit I’ve never snorkelled before?’ she asked.
If Alex was treading water, which he surely must be, then he was doing so by barely moving. There was not so much as a ripple around him.
‘Well, given how much you enjoyed swimming in open water the other day, I figured not.’
‘I did enjoy that,’ she exclaimed. ‘Eventually, anyway.’
‘You’ve done a bit of meditation before.’ He didn’t pose it as a question.
‘Sort of,’ she agreed. ‘How did you know?’
‘That night on the terrace,’ he said. ‘I saw you counting your breaths.’
Kate flushed as she recalled what had transpired shortly before that.
‘My dad taught me that trick when I was little. I was a bad sleeper back then. I used to convince myself that I would have a terrible nightmare if I gave in, so I would fight it, but then of course I was exhausted and erratic the following day. My parents tried all sorts of lights and story tapes and even bribery. They promised they would take me to Disneyland if I stopped being so silly about it, but even that didn’t work. In the end, a woman from my dad’s work suggested the breathing trick and to his amazement, it was a success. I’ve been using it ever since, whenever I find myself in a situation where I need to relax.’
‘I fish,’ he said. ‘Something about being still and watching the water – it slows the world down for a while, helps me find my way back to myself.’
‘That makes sense,’ she replied, a jolt going through her as their knees connected under the surface.
‘Being able to control your breathing is an important skill when it comes to snorkelling,’ he said, passing across a mask and breathing tube. ‘Start by putting put this on, that’s right, and then tighten it there at the side. OK?’
Kate nodded.
‘Right, next you need to bring round this mouthpiece here and hold it in place – don’t chew it!’ He laughed as Kate bared her teeth. ‘You want to be as relaxed as possible.’
Kate fiddled around pulling out trapped tendrils of her hair while Alex donned his own mask, her legs under the water colliding with his as she kicked hard to stop herself sinking.
‘Ready to try?’ he said, but Kate shook her head and promptly spat out the mouthpiece.
‘I’m not sure if I can do it,’ she fretted. ‘I feel like I won’t be able to breathe.’
‘We can practise together,’ he said, putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her. ‘Stop moving your legs for a minute . . . don’t worry, I’ll hold you, that’s right . . . and now slowly put your head under the water.’
Kate made sure her mouthpiece was in place before doing as he instructed, but as soon as her face was submerged, she panicked and breathed out hard through her nose, steaming up her mask and making her eyes water. Her eyesight had already been hindered by the removal of her glasses and now she couldn’t see a thing. Bringing her head back above water, she yanked out the breathing tube. ‘I can’t do it. My lungs just closed up. It felt as if I was suffocating.’
‘You’re safe, I’ve got you,’ he soothed, giving her a moment to compose herself. ‘It will feel strange at first – a bit like driving a car on the opposite side of the road. Give your brain a bit of time to adjust and you’ll be well away.’
‘If it’s my brain, we definitely have a problem,’ Kate joked limply.
‘I don’t believe that, not for a second.’
Somehow, they had ended up only a few inches away from each other. Kate could see the droplets of water on his lashes, the pink patches of skin around his nose where the mask was pinching.
‘We’ll go under together this time. Keep your eyes on mine, look right here.’ He tapped the front of his mask.
Kate took a deep breath and brought the mouthpiece back up to her lips, focusing all her attention on Alex. With a single careful movement, he let go of her shoulders, leaving her only for a moment to insert his own breathing tube before taking her hands. Their fingers interlocked and Kate held on tightly, the tempo of her heart increasing as she touched him.
Slowly, so slowly that it felt as if she had barely moved at all, Alex lowered the two of them under the surface, his eyes never leaving hers as the water lifted strands of her hair. She could feel the pressure building in her throat, but told herself to simply breathe, to stop being afraid and trust that her body would know what to do, that it would not let her panic this time. Remembering to count her breaths, Kate concentrated only on the air that was entering her lungs, holding it captive until her frantic heart began to slow.
Alex had not let go of her hands, nor had he shifted his pale-blue gaze from her. She was aware of a new world emerging around them, an underwater lair thrown suddenly into sharp relief. Kate saw it all, but mostly she saw Alex; felt him not only holding on to her, but deep inside herself too – an undeniable pull that awakened her every nerve.
Alex withdrew his hand from hers and it was as if a cord had snapped. The bond between them severed, and flustered, Kate splashed back to the surface, removing her mask and turning away from him, lest he see the confusion on her face.
Someone was waving from the shoreline and she rubbed the water from her eyes. It was Toby. He was holding something up and pointing to it.
Alex had swum a short distance away before resurfacing, his expression unreadable as he lifted the goggles away from his face. ‘I think you’ve got a call,’ he said.
‘I better see what he wants.’ Kate motioned towards her brother.
Alex merely nodded. He seemed to be trying to get his breath back, which struck her as faintly odd, given how serene he’d looked under the water. He didn’t follow when she started to swim away but turned instead, cutting through the water at an elegant crawl. Kate watched him go, torn by an urge to pursue.
‘Nims,’ Toby yelled, as soon as she was close enough to hear. ‘Come quick!’
Robyn was sitting up next to him, her smile full beneath her sunglasses.
‘What’s going on?’ Kate stumbled as she attempted to gain purchase on the stones. ‘Who was on the phone?’
‘It was a guy called Lovro,’ he said. ‘Apparently you know him? He owns a pizza place. Anyway, he says he’s opening a coffee shop in town and, well, he wants your help doing it up.’
‘You’re joking,’ said Kate, accepting a towel. ‘As in, he wants help painting?’
‘Not just that – he wants to hire you as his interior designer. Apparently, you are hot property in Hvar. He’s going to pay you, obviously, and it’s a generous amount.’
‘You’re sure he said me?’ Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re not winding me up, are you?’
‘No, Nims, I’m not. I never joke about work – you know that.’
Robyn had got to her feet and was hugging her. ‘This is so exciting, Kate! Your first paid gig as an interior designer. I’m so proud of you.’
‘Hang on.’ Kate looked at each of them in turn. ‘I haven’t even agreed to do it yet.’
‘Ah.’ Toby chewed his bottom lip. ‘Actually, you have. Your assistant has already agreed on your behalf.’
<
br /> ‘They have? And I’m guessing my assistant is—’
‘Me? Yep – ’fraid so.’
‘But I can’t do something like this – can I? It’s hardly like I’m a professional interior designer, and I’m pretty sure I can’t work in Croatia without the right visa.’
‘Oh, stop pooping all over my parade,’ scolded Toby. ‘We can sort out all the boring details later – the point is, you’re a wanted woman. This is it – it’s really happening for you.’
‘But I . . . I don’t get it. How did Lovro even know about the hostel, let alone have my phone number?’
Toby shrugged. ‘Someone must have tipped him off. Maybe that gorgeous German guy you met, who I still can’t believe you didn’t ask over for a drink.’
‘What gorgeous man?’ said Robyn, but Kate had stopped listening.
There was only one person who could have set this up, only one person who had enough faith in her to suggest it; someone who knew Lovro, who would be trusted by him. Kate turned back to the water, desperately scanning the sea for any sign of him.
But Alex was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 36
‘Shall we get a bottle of champagne to celebrate?’
Robyn looked expectantly at Kate, but she shook her head. ‘I can’t even think about alcohol. I’m still too hungover.’
‘I’m at least going to treat us all to a late lunch,’ said Toby, and passing Kate her phone, he headed off along the beach to see if there were any free tables.
Kate felt strangely lightheaded and loose-limbed. It must be the shock.
‘Who is this Lovro, then?’ Robyn enquired. ‘How come you know him if Toby doesn’t?’
‘I met him through Alex,’ she said. ‘What? Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘Like what?’
‘Like Mrs Bennet at the ball, when Jane was asked to dance by Mr Bingley.’
Robyn reached for her bottle of sun cream. ‘I’m your best friend, Kate Nimble. I can tell when you like someone.’
‘I do like Alex. In the same way I like mashed potato and forward-facing seats on trains. There’s nothing more to it than that.’
‘If you say so,’ said Robyn, her tone making it clear she believed no such thing. ‘But would it be so dreadful if you did like him more than mashed potato? Perhaps much more?’
‘Robyn—’
‘All I’m saying is that he’s single, you’re single, you clearly get on and he’s a nice guy. Would it be the end of the world if you had a holiday romance? A summer fling.’
‘You’re forgetting one vital thing,’ Kate told her.
‘Oh, please don’t say J––’
‘Yes – James.’
Robyn lay back down on her towel and closed her eyes, effectively putting an end to the conversation. Kate was about to continue when she spotted Alex sauntering through the shallows towards her, his hair flattened and his beard trailing water.
‘Were your ears burning?’ chimed Robyn, to which Kate laughed a bit too loud.
‘Should they be?’ he asked, settling down on the rock.
‘I was just telling Robyn how I met Lovro,’ she explained.
‘Oh, right.’ Alex wrung out some water from his dreadlocks. ‘Any reason why?’
Ignoring a sniggering Robyn, Kate filled him in on the news about the coffee shop.
‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘for putting in a good word. I know it must have been you,’ she added, as Alex started to protest. ‘Nobody else knows both of us.’
‘He asked, I answered.’ Alex shrugged. ‘No big deal.’
But it was a big deal. It was only now starting to dawn on Kate how much of a big deal it was.
‘I hope I don’t mess up and let you both down,’ she said now. ‘Not after you put in a good word for me.’
‘You won’t,’ he said. ‘Have a little faith in yourself.’
‘Hear, hear,’ chorused Robyn.
Kate arranged her features into a smile, but it did little to allay her concerns. Choosing a few paint colours and repurposing some old items of furniture was one thing, but to be offered paid interior design work by a stranger was another entirely. What would happen if she messed it up, or worse – got there and found she had no ideas, nothing of merit to suggest?
Glancing at Alex, she found him looking over her shoulder and turned.
‘We’re never going to get a table here,’ grumbled Toby, who’d returned from his perusal of Palmižana’s restaurants. ‘How about a celebratory dinner tonight instead? I’m sure my delectable husband will be only too happy to cook something favoloso on the barbecue.’
‘If there’s food involved, the answer is always yes,’ said Robyn, who had her eyes shut again.
‘I might pop by this new coffee shop of Lovro’s on the way back,’ said Kate. ‘It would be good to get a sense of exactly what state it’s in, and how much will need to be done.’
‘I’m sure Al can drop you off in town on the way,’ said Toby.
Kate looked at Alex, her gaze dropping of its own accord to rove across his bare chest.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Not a problem.’
They left Palmižana later in the afternoon and headed back towards Hvar Town at a leisurely pace. The plan was that Alex would drop them all off at the main harbour, then take his boat back to its usual mooring spot and return to the hostel on foot, where they’d all rendezvous for dinner. When they arrived, however, Robyn held back.
‘I might come with you,’ she said to Alex. ‘I want to have a go in the deckchair.’
Kate paused mid-clamber.
‘Fine by me,’ he said, one hand on the boat’s rear line.
‘l’ll see you two in a bit then,’ she added, smiling at Kate. ‘Good luck.’
‘But—’ Kate could not think of a suitable reason to refuse, and she had no choice but to watch in silence as Alex eased the boat away, one of his hands outstretched in case Robyn fell climbing up into the deckchair. That bloody deckchair. She only had herself to blame.
‘Ready?’ asked Toby, as Kate stared forlornly across the water.
‘As I’ll ever be,’ she said, pulling herself together.
Kate wished she hadn’t spent the morning before her first official work meeting at the beach. She had no make-up on, her hair had dried into a dandelion frizz, and she should be dressed smartly in a blouse and skirt, not a gaping sundress with a wet patch on the bottom where she’d sat in her damp swimsuit.
Lovro had texted over the address of his new business venture, which Toby recognised as one of the narrow streets that led up towards the Fortico. As they came within sight of the little shop, however, Kate feeling more nervous with every step, he drew back.
‘I have a few things I need to do in town,’ he said. ‘You’ll be all right from here, won’t you?’
‘You’re going?’ Kate was aghast. ‘You can’t!’
‘Don’t be silly. You’re a professional career woman now – this is your party.’
‘But I need you here with me.’
‘Nims, listen to me. You don’t need me; you don’t need anyone – especially not when you’re in work mode. I lost count of the number of times you shooed me away when we were doing Sul Tetto.’
‘That was different.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he said patiently. ‘You need to concentrate now, and I’ll only distract you. This is what you’re good at – just get in there and do what you do best. It will be fine, you’ll see. Have a little faith in yourself for once.’
Alex had said the same thing. Have a little faith. It was easy for them to say.
Leaning over, Toby gave her a quick peck on the top of her head ‘for luck’, and then he was gone.
Kate stood alone in the lane, waiting for her hands to stop trembling. The door to what would become the coffee shop was propped open and she could hear banging coming from within. She took a hesitant step forward only for her stomach to twist into knots.
She was being ridiculous
.
This was what she wanted, what she enjoyed; it was the closest she’d ever come to a passion – so why did she feel so discombobulated? Why was she letting the fear of failure hold her back yet again?
Kate pictured herself with Alex, saw the two of them sitting together surrounded by white stones. How miraculous it had felt to acknowledge all those things that scared her, give a name to those metaphorical barriers she had constructed that held her own self-worth at bay, and toss them away to be washed clean.
She could do this; she had to do this.
Taking a final, steadying breath, Kate walked up to the open door.
‘Knock, knock,’ she called through the gap. If only she had the skills to greet her first client in his own language. Settling for a timid ‘zdravo’, she stepped over the threshold into a dark-walled and dust-filled room. Inside, there was a long, grubby countertop, a tall shuttered window and a stack of mismatched wooden furniture. A radio stood in the far corner, plugged in alongside what looked to be a circular saw, which someone had left on a low table to her right, a stack of plain white tiles piled up underneath it.
Kate was pleased; she would be working from a relatively blank canvas. It was easier to envisage something new from a clean slate, and as she stood and stared, ideas began to take shape in her mind.
The single window would not permit much natural light – especially not on a back street as narrow as this one – so the first thing they would need were some powerful spotlights. The ceiling was crisscrossed with open beams, which would provide inspiration for an aesthetic consisting of earthy tones and natural materials. She could envisage printed menus on wooden clipboards, cutlery stacked in burnished tins, Kilner jars of coffee and teabags on stripped-wooden shelves behind the counter, not uniform but spliced into ledges and arranged at varying heights. The crockery should be plain, but the saucers patterned, the few tables adorned with succulents of different shapes and sizes, each housed in clay pots bought locally and perhaps even sold to visiting tourists. The brick walls could stay, but must be painted white, and she could see a vast pinboard taking pride of place opposite the window, somewhere to share leaflets from other businesses in the area or for guests to leave notes or photos. Upcycled bar stools could house trailing plants, mirrors could reflect light and expand space, and she could use circular picture frames or adornments to soften the rather boxy feel of the place.
The Getaway: A holiday romance for 2021 - perfect summer escapism! Page 22
