Page 46 of A Taste of Paradise

‘Don’t do that, you startled me,’ she sputtered.

‘Well, am I right?’ Mack pressed.

Ignoring his remark, she took him by the arm and led him away. She didn’t want Molly or Trevor overhearing.

‘So what if I did?’

‘So, not only a guest relations manager and Wi-Fi whizz kid, but a matchmaker too?’

‘Not usually,’ she commented, glancing at the smiles on Trevor and Molly’s faces. ‘On this occasion, I made an exception.’

‘Why?’

‘Because everyone deserves a second chance?’ she replied simply.

‘Yes, it seems you have a thing about second chances,’ Mack retorted smoothly. ‘So what’s your big plan for me today?’

‘We should get going,’ she stated, glancing at him. ‘Everyone else has already boarded.’

‘A bus? You’re taking me on a tour bus?’ he muttered with some disbelief. ‘I assumed something … different.’

‘Hey, you know what they say about assumptions,’ Erin told him, winking as she led the way.

Chapter 32

Once aboard the bus, Erin and Mack choose seats in the back, while Trevor and Molly sat closer to the front.

It was the perfect vantage point for Erin to keep an eye on their progress. She felt a bit like Miss Marple or another of those female TV show investigators from years gone by, spying on a suspect.

‘So this is a standard offering of the resort?’ Mack’s words interrupted her thoughts. He was seated next to the window, which was closed because of the air-conditioning. His knapsack was nestled on his lap. It was black and had so many pockets you could surely lose something in it, Erin thought as she watched him sifting through the larger of the sections.

‘Yes. It’s a cultural option The Palms offers all of its guests and, if it’s good enough, I’m going to recommend it be included in the welcome package for no extra charge.’

Mack made a face. ‘If it’s good enough? So you haven’t taken it yourself then?’ he asked, pulling out a camera and proceeding to check the lens, ensuring everything was as it should be.

‘Not yet. Like I said, I do my research,’ she said, as they pulled out of the lot.

Their first stop was Castries, the St Lucia capital and the hub of business and government. The streets were filled with people going about their daily lives. Everywhere you looked there was colour. The buildings, though painted in bright yellows, blues, and every other colour of the rainbow, still retained their colonial style, making you feel as if you’d stepped back in time.

There was an inner rhythm to the city, which called to you to join it. Erin could see it on the faces of every passenger as they entered the road leading to their destination.

Including Mack, whose grin radiated as he watched people walking by.

The Castries Central Market was an open-air marketplace with an entrance that vaguely reminded Erin of some kind of old church, with its lattice trim and old Roman numeral clock face out front. The market itself already hummed like a living organism as they disembarked the bus. People were going in and out; vendors were set up outside, all speaking so quickly in a mixture of English and Creole that Erin could hardly keep up with what they were saying.

Trevor’s voice caught her attention from nearby as he advised Molly to stay close and Erin watched with satisfaction as he took her hand and led her into the market.

‘Look here,’ Mack called then, and the minute she turned around a camera shutter clicked.

‘What was that?’ she asked, her brow knitting in surprise.

‘Never had your picture taken before?’ The camera was still obscuring part of his face, but Erin could see he was smiling.

‘Of course I have. I mean, why are you taking my picture?’

‘If I like a subject I’ll shoot it,’ he replied simply. Then he looked up from behind the lens. ‘I see your matchmaking seems to be working anyway.’ He inclined his head in the direction in which Molly and Trevor had disappeared.

She shrugged. ‘We’ll see.’