‘I love you, Malie.’
‘I love you too.’ And then she yanked his waistband, harder this time, and he fell on top of her, his lips claiming hers. The mess forgotten, the world forgotten, everything but the love they shared, the love and the phone buzzing against Malie’s butt cheek. She wriggled and adjusted, pulling it out of her pocket with the intention of tossing it aside.
‘Who is it?’ he murmured against her neck.
She peeped over his shoulder at the screen, seeing several missed video calls and a text. ‘Oh no.’
He lifted up, his hands pressed into the mattress either side of her. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘It’s my friends, Lils, V, Zo, they’re requesting a Lost Hours call.’
‘A what now?’
She frowned at the phone. ‘It means it’s an emergency.’
‘You have to take it?’
She gave him an apologetic smile. ‘It’s kind of our code.’
‘Far be it from me to stand in the way of girl code.’ He smiled to soften the blow and rolled onto his back. ‘So long as you don’t expect me to clear out while you have it because now I finally have you back, I’m making the most of being by your side.’
‘You and me both.’
She collapsed down next to him, her head nestled in the crook of his arm and swiped to join the group call.
‘About bloody time, Devil!’ It was Zoe, her anxious frown filling the screen. ‘I’ve been trying to reach you for the last ten minutes.’
‘Hey, Malie,’ V and Lils chimed in, looking exhausted in their dressing gowns, their eyes half asleep.
‘Sorry, love, it’s only just started ringing through now, what’s up?’ It had to be something huge for her to wake V and Lils up so early.
‘I’ve decided to stage an intervention,’ her friend declared, her voice firm and brooking no argument. ‘It’s time you woke up to…’ she broke off, her frown deepening as she loomed into the screen, ‘Malie, what’s that behind your head?’
‘Hmm? My what?’
Zoe flapped a finger at the screen. ‘There, behind you? Good God, Malie, are you naked?!’
Malie felt her cheeks colour, looked down at her chest and realized that she was indeed half naked. ‘Never mind all that, what’s the problem, who needs an intervention?’
‘That’s an arm,’ said Victoria with a yawn. ‘Behind her head, it’s an arm.’
Lils squinted into the screen. ‘It is, you know, a definite male arm.’
‘Whoa, Malie,’ Todd started to wriggle away. ‘You didn’t tell me it was a video call.’
Malie looked to Todd and back to her friends and gave a guilty shrug. ‘I guess now would be a good time to introduce you all… Todd, meet V and Lils, you already know Zo,’ she swung the phone at him and back, ‘guys, meet Todd.’
‘Todd? Isn’t that the guy we’re having an intervention over, Zo?’ Victoria asked.
‘Not being funny,’ Lils said, smothering a laugh, ‘but Malie doesn’t look like she needs an intervention to me. The words horse and bolted spring to mind.’
Zoe was shaking her head, her smile slow to form. ‘So… you and Todd, you’re…’ she gestured at the phone.
‘Well, we were about to,’ Malie said, ‘but then you called.’
‘Malie!’ Todd blurted and she looked to him.
‘Sorry, we kind of tell each other everything, is that going to be a problem?’
‘Don’t worry, Todd,’ came Oliver’s disembodied voice from V’s screen, ‘you’ll get used to it.’
They all laughed, even Zoe, who was slowly coming out of her shock enough to ask, ‘So you’ve seen sense without our help?’
‘Not quite,’ Malie admitted, ‘you helped, Zo, more than you know.’
‘Nice to know your friends saw sense before you did,’ Todd ribbed her as they all giggled.
‘Well, in that case, Devil, we best leave you to it.’
‘Please… oh, but before you go…’ Malie pulled the phone close, trying to smother it and the microphone.
‘I don’t need to see your boobs, Malie,’ came Lils’ voice.
‘Just Todd’s chest will suffice,’ added V with a sharp ‘Oi!’ from Oliver.
Malie shook her head, grinning as she looked to Todd.
‘Would you be free this summer to come to Devon – I kind of have this thing I’m invited to and it has a plus one?’
‘You know I can hear you, right?’ V piped up.
Malie’s grin widened. ‘All right, bridezilla, keep your hair on…’ She turned back to Todd. ‘Would you be my date to V’s wedding?’
‘I’d be honoured.’
‘Hear that, loves,’ she brought the phone back to her face, ‘I have a plus one… and an old surf school to check out, it’s going to be a busy summer.’
‘A surf school!’ Lils blurted. ‘What are you saying, Malie? Are you coming back to the Cove?’
She was already losing her focus on the call, caught up as she was in the glow of Todd’s gaze as he pieced together what she was saying.
‘Malie?’ Lils prompted. ‘Malie?’
‘I figured since you’ll be back helping your dad,’ she explained to Todd softly, ‘I could be back working on the family surf school, looking at recreating what we have here.’
‘I love it.’ He smiled at her, pulling her in.
‘Gotta go, loves, but yes, Lils, I’m coming home.’
She heard Lils excited squee as she cut the call, could imagine the happy faces of both V and Zo too.
‘You know they probably got an eyeful when you flashed your phone back and forth,’ Todd murmured.
‘They’ve seen worse.’
He leaned back before she could kiss him. ‘Worse?’
‘Remind me to tell you all about Ibiza when we have time.’
‘Ibiza?’
‘Mm-hmm.’ She probed his lips with her tongue, teasing him into kissing her.
‘Do I want to know?’
‘Maybe save it until after the wedding.’
‘Whose wedding? V’s or…?’
It was her turn to lean back. ‘Are you asking me to marry you?’
‘I don’t know, were you meaning V’s wedding or…?’ He widened his eyes, nodded his head.
She grinned, so full of love for him and the promise of a future she never thought she’d have. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know…’
And then she kissed him, leaving him in no doubt as to whose wedding she’d meant, because she had no doubt whatsoever that one day in the not too distant future, it would be her saying, ‘I do.’
Acknowledgements
Writing the acknowledgements for my second book feels slightly surreal, knowing that you are coming on this joyous journey with me is something I appreciate more than words can do justice.
Rachael Stewart - you’ve made this book incredibly special. I feel so lucky to have embarked on this wonderful writing journey with you.
To my fabulous and incredibly patient editor Becky Slorach, thank you for your guidance and support past, present and future – my WhatsApp warrior! Thank you so much.
Huge thank you to everyone at Mills & Boon as well as HarperCollins, especially to Kirsty Capes, Katie Barnes-Wallis, Sophie Calder and Tom Keane. A second book finished! Pinch me!
Thank you to Lucy Truman and Kate Oakley for such a happy and vivid cover, it suits Malie’s warm and adventurous personality to perfection.
To my wonderful managers, your enthusiasm and assurance has been crucial over the past few months of writing this book.
Friends and family who supported me on my journey writing Malie and Todd’s story who I am so happy to have in my life. I love you all dearly. My grandfather Bertie who sadly passed away before my first book was released, but whom I consider an endless source of inspiration and strength. Most importantly my darling PH, your support for my career is unparalleled.
I am eternally grateful to all my loyal readers and supporters. Your encouragement h
as given me the push I needed to finish Malie’s road to self-discovery and happiness, I hope her bravery inspires you.
If you loved Meet me in Hawaii, read on for an extract of Zoe’s story Meet me in Tahiti from Georgia Toffolo and Mills & Boon
Coming September 2021
Chapter 1
ZOE TAYLER’S MOBILE PHONE pinged, alerting her to an incoming email.
Her fingers froze on her computer keyboard.
She knew that email would be from [email protected].
Yep, her parents not only owned a domain name, they also had a dedicated address for corresponding with their only child. That was how serious they were about keeping a not-so-proverbial eye on her.
Whenever Zoe was on an international job her parents’ email obsession ratcheted up to frenzy level—particularly on day one, which brought an avalanche. Only gradually did the frequency taper off in the ensuing days, easing fraction-by-fraction with each of Zoe’s instantly returned ‘I’m-fine-no-need-to-worry’ replies.
Today—sigh—was day one, this would be their fourth email of the day, and the just-roll-with-it process of allaying their myriad concerns lay depressingly ahead of her.
It was noon in French Polynesia, which made it 11pm in England. There should only be time for only one more communique before her parents went to bed, so within the hour she should be free.
Unless…
Well, unless she decided not to answer this one. In which case she could be free immediately.
Her fingers twitched on the keyboard as the idea of going off the grid took hold…
And then she laughed.
Futile to hope her parents would shrug their shoulders, assume she was fine and go to bed. The more likely scenario was that they’d call Zoe’s mobile, and keep calling, and when Zoe didn’t answer (because answering would render her little rebellion redundant) they’d fret over what ills might have befallen her—everything from a fever-inducing cold caught during her plane trip to her lying unconscious on the floor with a cracked skull. Within twenty-four hours they’d be knocking on her bungalow door with an ambulance on standby.
Yeah, hard no to that!
She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs to remind herself why her parents needed to know she was all right, and knew she was going to reply.
‘Fight your big battles to the death but don’t sweat the scrappy skirmishes if you want to win the long war,’ she murmured, and her hands abruptly stopped moving as she realised what she’d said.
Not that those words didn’t suit the situation, but it shocked her that she could recite them—verbatim—after…what…twelve years?
Yes, it had been twelve years since Finn Doherty had said those words to her that idyllic summer they’d worked together at the Crab Shack in Hawke’s Cove.
Her parents hadn’t wanted her to take the job at the Shack, hadn’t seen the need for it given the generous allowance they gave her. But all her friends had summer jobs lined up and she’d pleaded, and her BFFs had pleaded, and even Ewan, the owner of the Crab Shack, had pleaded (such a softie), and at last she’d been given the okay to be just like every other sixteen-year-old in the village.
Unfortunately, a week into the job she’d had a wisdom tooth out—typical that she’d get her wisdom teeth earlier than any other kid and that one of them would be impacted. (Seriously, it was like the universe had it in for her!) Her parents, true to form, had acted like she was about to be measured for her coffin and it had taken two days in bed and an extra day of frantic begging before Zoe was allowed to return to work.
But her parents’ capitulation had come at a price: constant phone calls.
After their eighth call on her first day back, Zoe had decided that giving up the job was preferable to having every Shack employee lining up to throttle her. She’d hurried out to the storeroom, blinking tears away because she didn’t cry, ever, phone gripped in one hand, when Finn had…well, materialised.
He’d looked at the phone, at her face, and understood the situation instantly. That was when he’d said those words to her. And then he’d told her that the big battle had been getting her parents to agree to the job but the phone calls? Pfft, they were nothing.
And just like that, the phone calls had ceased to matter. So she’d called her parents, right there in front of Finn, and explained that if she didn’t answer a call immediately it didn’t mean she was being rushed to hospital, only that she was busy, and in such cases she’d call them back within half an hour, cross-her-heart-hope-not-to-die. Then she’d set the phone to vibrate-only, and whenever it had buzzed in the back pocket of her jeans, she’d smiled at Finn and he’d smiled back, sharing the secret. And over the next few days the calls had tapered off. The way the emails she was currently dealing with always did eventually.
So deal with it, Zoe. The sooner you deal, the sooner you’re free.
She switched windows on her computer. For long responses—and she was determined to compose a long one, knocking off every possible issue she could think of as a forestalling tactic—she preferred keyboard typing to tapping on her phone.
She couldn’t imagine what there was left for them to warn her about but when she opened the message she saw they’d found something: Cristina, Zoe’s regular travel companion.
The email was oh-so-carefully worded; this wasn’t a hill her parents were prepared to die on lest Zoe decide no more travel companion at all, but nevertheless the dictates were clear: Zoe should remember Cristina was there to help. It was fine for Cristina to enjoy herself, and nobody expected her to hover over Zoe twenty-four hours a day, but Zoe shouldn’t see it was an imposition to request Cristina’s assistance whenever she needed it. Cristina was stronger than Zoe as well as being a trained nurse, so Zoe shouldn’t insist on doing all those transfers to and from her chair herself all the time.
The easy way to head this particular concern off at the pass was to let her parents know that Cristina had become as tediously dedicated to Zoe’s wellbeing as they were, to the point where Zoe had to send her on made-up errands to win herself some breathing space. Today, for example, Zoe had asked her to carry out a completely unnecessary accessibility check of the entire Poerava resort. Problem was, though, if she told her parents Cristina had been afflicted with the protect-Zoe-Tayler-at-all-costs disease they’d probably kick off a campaign to get Zoe to hire Cristina as a permanent live-in assistant. Not! Happening!
Zoe wished she knew what she did that made people want to stand guard over her so she could stop doing it! It happened to everyone who came into her life sooner or later, and as for those who’d known her from her cradle…?
Well, gah! Just…gah!
Yes, three miscarriages before Zoe was born had conferred ‘precious’ status on Zoe. Yes, Zoe had suffered all the health issues associated with being premature. Yes, Zoe had been a sickly child, in and out of hospital with bronchiolitis. But—ginormous, important BUT—by the age of eleven she’d been as hardy as any kid in the village. Small, yes, but perfectly formed and perfectly fit! And yet a slight breeze sent half the village running for her coat. A yawn and the other half would urge her to rest. A scratch on her arm and she’d be fending off offers to drive her to Accident and Emergency. As though she were a piece of delicate porcelain teetering on the edge of a cliff and it was everyone’s collective responsibility to stop her going over.
Thank God for her best friends, Victoria, Malie and Lily, who treated her like they treated each other: no fuss, no concessions, just love. Without them, Zoe would have spent the span of her life from primary school to coming-of-age peering through the windows of her parents’ clifftop mansion—or as the girls called it Palace de Prison—at everyone else frolicking on the beach below.
Zoe smiled around a sigh, as she always did when thinking of her friends. She depended on the girls in a way she never let herself depend on anyone else. It didn’t feel like a weakness to need them, to lean on them when the going got tough. They
had each other’s back, always. Knew each other’s frailties and strengths. Knew each other’s scars. Were always there for each other—whether it was a quick phone call or an all-in session via video conference.
Zoe’s visit home last Christmas had come about after one of those video calls. It hadn’t been easy, going back to Hawke’s Cove. But Victoria had been struggling over a decision that might have torn her from the man she loved (her now-fiancé Oliver Russell) and so Zoe had sucked it up and joined Lily and Malie on a surprise visit to her, because for the big deals you needed to get tactile with your friends. They had a codename for those big deals—the scared-to-death and flying-high ones, the heartbreaks and exaltations, the ones that meant you dropped everything to be there: the Lost Hours.
Zoe was proud of the fact that she’d been the one to inspire that codename. They’d taken a trip to Ibiza to celebrate Victoria’s birthday and because V was the last of them to turn eighteen it was all-out-for-freedom that week. So all-out Zoe had managed to get lost at a foam party. One moment they’d been dancing as a group, the next the foam had gone right over Zoe’s head—she was the shortest, at just over five feet—and pandemonium had apparently ensued as Victoria, Malie and Lily had searched for her for the next three hours. They’d been scared out of their wits and checked her over as thoroughly as a doctor when she’d resurfaced, despite Zoe reassuring them that she hadn’t been kidnapped or drugged or conked on the head. Eventually they’d let the matter rest—perhaps reading the gleam of mischief in Zoe’s eyes that told them she was thrilled at having had a secret adventure.
It had been two months before the summer ball that would mark the end of school, and with the daring still racing through her blood Zoe had made the decision then and there that the ball would be a turning point, kick-starting a new life.
Careful what you wish for.
That night had certainly kick-started a new life. A new life for all of them. Just not in a way anyone could have anticipated.
Which she was not going to think about now.
She was going to think only positive thoughts.
Meet Me in Hawaii Page 28
