Page 24 of A Taste of Paradise

‘No, it’s not that. My dad passed away recently and she isn’t … handling it so well,’ she admitted and averted her gaze.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. When did it happen? If you don’t mind me asking, of course …’

‘It’s fine. About five months ago, but it takes time to heal. Mum just isn’t getting there as fast as we’d hoped.’

‘How long were they married – your parents?’ he asked, with what seemed to be genuine curiosity.

‘Forty-five years.’

‘Good Lord, that’s a long time,’ Shay commented. ‘I can’t imagine it would ever be easy to lose someone you’ve spent the better part of your life with.’

‘No, it isn’t.’

Then he put his sandwich down. ‘But you never said anything, Lily. We’ve been in touch over the last six months, all throughout your grief, and you never said a word. You never even took time off as I recall,’ he commented. Suddenly his eyebrows rose as if something had popped into his mind. ‘Hang on, remember that time when we had that video call scheduled and you said you were unwell – that was it, wasn’t it?’ His memory was remarkable, she had to admit. ‘That was when he passed away.’

‘Yes.’ Lily hung her head and tried to focus on her food. She didn’t want to talk about it. Today was about distracting and helping Shay feel better about his loss, not bringing up hers.

‘Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Because it’s my job to make my clients happy, not burden them with my issues,’ she answered somewhat sharply, as he studied her with an intensity she found unnerving.

‘Of course it wouldn’t have been a burden,’ he said gently. ‘Anyone would understand, considering.’

‘Thank you, I appreciate that. But I’m fine now,’ she continued and hoped the conversation was at an end. He seemed to pick up on her reluctance to continue and quickly changed the subject to something safer.

As they drove back, she could sense Shay’s occasional glance toward her across the close space, but he’d asked nothing more other than a brief inquiry about her mother and on what part of the island they lived.

When they arrived back at The Palms, she dropped him off at the hotel entrance, thankful that his mood seemed to have improved a little by getting out and about today; though she regretted he had to learn about her recent troubles. She turned back onto the highway, determined to take the coast road all the way home. As she drove she kept hearing her dad’s voice in her head.

The best things in life rarely come easy. Sometimes it has to get messy before you see the beauty in it.

Lily wasn’t sure why she was thinking about that piece of advice in particular, but she couldn’t shake it.

Probably because her own life was somewhat of a mess right now, and the beauty in it was eluding her.

Chapter 18

As Erin continued to ponder what to do about the snakes, her knees began to wobble and she turned away from the writhing creatures, taking a moment to collect herself. As she did, she spied a couple of guests dressed in bathing suits and holding a straw bag coming in through the gate from the gardens.

Yikes.

‘Hello there, beautiful day, isn’t it?’ she greeted cheerfully as she hurried towards the newcomers. She stood up tall and spread her arms wide in an attempt to obstruct their view of the pool itself.

‘Yes, we’re heading to the pool,’ the woman said, smiling politely.

‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but the pool is closed at the moment. Some maintenance issues …’ The woman and her companion tried to look past her, no doubt hoping to determine what the issue might be. ‘But if you would like to head to the beach instead, I will call down and have someone set up chairs and a parasol for you? And a couple of pina coladas too, on the house.’

Erin pointed to a path that led to the beach in the opposite direction.

The man looked annoyed. ‘It’s quite inconvenient actually. We were really hoping to get some content for my girlfriend’s social media channel.’ Was it Erin’s imagination or was he eyeing her meaningfully – as if she should make some kind of exception?

‘No, Greg, it’s fine, the beach sounds perfect, actually,’ his companion said, smiling, and noting their accents and the overbearing boyfriend, Erin quickly deduced that this must be the British influencer Grant had flagged a few days ago.

Cripes, she hoped the guy wasn’t planning his big proposal right now …

Lily hadn’t mentioned any big plans for today, but if so, it was the kind of proposal that would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. And one the resort definitely didn’t want broadcasted online to a huge audience.

‘Wonderful,’ Erin sang. ‘You two head on down, and I’ll get everything taken care of.’