Page 71 of A Taste of Paradise

Jesus Christ. Naomi didn’t want to know the details, couldn’t even being to comprehend the level of deception.

He reached for her again. ‘Naomi—’

‘Stop it, Greg. There’s nothing left to say.’ She took a deep breath as the disappointment and sorrow at all those wasted years gradually began to supersede her anger. ‘I want you to leave.’ Surprised, again Greg rushed to her side, trying to sway her. ‘I don’t want you here for my birthday, I don’t even want to see you here at this hotel or even this island, anymore.’

‘You don’t mean that. You’re upset.’

‘Yes, I do,’ she stated emphatically.

‘I love you, Naomi,’ he pleaded. ‘Everything I’ve done and everything I’ve said is because I want the best for us. Please understand that.’

‘I understand. I understand that you aren’t the man I fell in love with. He was a fantasy, exactly like you said. And that fantasy is gone. I’m going to stay in Sam’s room tonight. But when I come back tomorrow, I want you out of this room and my life. I don’t care where you go, as long as you stay away from this resort. Go back to Somerset, or go to hell, Greg. Either will do just fine.’

Chapter 48

Lily had tossed and turned most of the night as her mind turned over every possibility to explain Shay’s sudden change in demeanour. Finally, at nearly 3 a.m., she decided that sleep was the only cure for her worries about what the text he’d received could mean.

But when he greeted her in the lobby that day for their final jaunt before Lily became subsumed in final preparations for the sunset party, it was as if nothing had happened. He was handsome as always, in faded denim jeans and a simple white V-neck T-shirt, and when he hugged her, it was as if every worry melted away.

She was wrong to fret. She was overthinking things as usual, putting way too much importance on the text and only imagining the distance she’d felt from him afterwards.

Now the familiar scent of his cologne filled her senses while his firm arms held her close. Suddenly none of it mattered. If Shay could hold her like that then, whatever had happened, whatever had briefly troubled him, meant nothing at all.

The Animal Flower Cave was the island’s lone accessible sea cave. It was formed over thousands of years of coral formations stacking on top of one another. A while back, a geological institute had dated the coral floor and estimated it to be between four hundred and five hundred years old.

‘Another cave?’ Shay joked as they approached an opening atop the cliff’s edge.

‘Not just another cave.’ Lily was about to lead him down into the depths behind a group taking a tour, when she spotted a spout of pressured water rising into the air off the coast.

‘Look, whales!’ She pointed in the direction of the spout in time to see a playful calf breaching.

‘Wow, I didn’t know this place had whales,’ Shay commented as he watched the happy frolicking going on in the water. Some other visitors had noticed them too and were moving closer to the cliff’s safety marker to allow them the best photos.

‘They’re only here for a few months each year to mate or give birth. It’s warmer than where they’re coming from,’ she explained.

‘So if we’re going to watch whales and see a cave, why did you make me wear my swim trunks today?’

‘Because we’re going swimming of course.’

‘We’re going to the beach after this?’

‘I never said the beach.’ Lily winked, enjoying the opportunity to leave him in suspense.

‘But you just said—’

‘I said we were going swimming. Now come on,’ she instructed, leading him towards the former blowhole that was now the cave’s entrance.

This led down to a wooden door, the only way in from the land. The walls of the cave were a form of history in themselves. The jagged coral forms, crevices and patches of pale colour told the tale of the animals that had lived and died to make it. It was nothing compared to what they would find once deeper in the belly though.

The cave was cut off from all external light except for giant holes in the cliff face, which allowed the ocean to fill the space when the tide was high enough. Now these allowed a haze of glow from the outside to lighten the darkness. The walls to their left were a mixture of emerald, cobalt, obsidian and various shades of brown, remnants of the sea life that had once inhabited the space. The pools were populated with anemones, though they were far fewer now than when it was discovered in the 1700s, but on occasion, their bright polyps created a garden of colour in the various pools.

‘Woah,’ Shay breathed from behind her.

‘I know,’ Lily replied, pleased he seemed as in awe as she was. It had always been one of her most favourite places on the island and she was excited to share it with him. Saving the best till last.

‘This way,’ she directed, turning towards a separate chamber. The ‘swimming pool’, as it was called, was a deceptively shallow-looking expanse of water formed by the wearing of the ocean against the cave’s walls. Eight feet deep in its shallowest place, it made a wonderfully cool spot to relax and escape, tucked away from the world. Light flooding through a hole in the wall above cast the silhouette of its shape on the surface of the waters. There were other people already enjoying the depths when they arrived and it only took them a few minutes to join them in the water.

Lily shed her clothes with lightning speed as she and Shay raced into the cool waters. Laughing, they submerged themselves into its depths, their heads popping up a few feet away from each other. The water was a wonderful contrast to the heat of the day outside, Lily thought as she waded in deeper. Shay flashed her a grin before disappearing beneath the surface and a moment later pulled her under with him.