Page 40 of Second Chance Summer
‘You’ll be back by mid-afternoon. I’m sorry for booking that horrible place. I should never have done it!’
The moment the golf cart stopped, Lily jumped off, still talking frantically to him.
‘Richie – it’s OK. It’s not your fault. You were doing your best and Stark isn’t hellish,’ she said, trying to lower her voice so Sam wouldn’t hear. ‘It was OK. More than OK until – well, until things went a bit wrong.’
‘Hun – you almost drowned there!’ Richie bellowed.
‘I wasOK,’ Lily insisted, while feeling guilty for lying.
Rotors whirred, drowning out Richie’s next words.
‘Sorry, I can’t hear you now. The helicopter’s landed. It’s my flight to Cornwall. Message me if you need to but I’ll be off the helicopter very soon.’
Sam was by the helicopter hut talking to the gardener Lily had spoken with when she’d first arrived. Other holidaymakers wheeled cases, chattering excitedly. Tanned staff from the Tresco resort hurried to and fro with luggage and boxes.
One man hugged a woman and two kids; locals bidding farewell, Lily guessed. She wondered where the lady who’d given up her seat was and felt a fresh pang of guilt.
Being ambitious was nothing to be ashamed of, yet shehadbeen prepared to do almost anything to get off the island.
The rotors died and Sam rejoined her. ‘There’s a short turnaround and then you’ll be off,’ he said. ‘Which will doubtless come as a huge relief to you. I’m sure you can’t wait to see the back of Stark and us.’
Lily wasn’t quite sure if he was joking. She was never sure where Sam stood, but she had a suspicion that under the cynicism, the mood shifts, lay some past trauma hewasn’t prepared to share with her. His gaze turned over the water to where Stark slept in the sun, light glinting on the cottages of the retreat. She felt a sharp tug at her heart and recognised it at once: loss.
Her phone rang again and, as she answered it, two voices rang out in unison.
‘Auntie Lily!’
‘Hold on, girls!’ Étienne’s voice, sounding uncharacteristically sharp. ‘Lily! Thank God you’re OK!’
‘I am. You got my message, then?’
‘Yes, but I was in theatre so didn’t have my phone. Soon as I came out, one of my colleagues on the night shift was outside and told me she’d seen the obituary.’
‘Oh, God, no.’
‘It’s OK. Fortunately, she’s highly sceptical about the Internet at the best of times and tried to calm me down and then I got to my phone and saw your message about half a minute later.’ He paused then said hoarsely, ‘But for those thirty seconds, I was absolutely petrified we’d lost you.’
Not as petrified as I was, she thought, stung by the horrific memory of Sam being washed out of the kayak.
She shuddered.
‘I’m OK. There was an incident but the owner of the retreat was out in a kayak and spotted me. The sea was rough and we got into some bother, but it was all fine,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ve spoken to Richie and the PR team are trying to find out the exact details but they think some idiot on a boat must have seen it happen.’
‘And decided you were dead?’ Étienne said in astonishment.
‘I don’t know what they thought. Maybe they only saw part of what happened, or exaggerated, or just decided to make up a story for the hell of it.’
‘Words fail me.’
‘I know,’ Lily said. ‘But whoever started the rumour, it was picked up by all and sundry, spread by that shitty gossip site before it went viral.’
‘But how did an actual obituary end up online?’
‘Some news outlets prepare them in advance, even for young people. Richie found out an over-keen intern released mine before double-checking I was actually dead.’
Étienne swore in French but Lily understoodexactlywhat he meant.
‘Apparently, it’s happened loads of times before. I’m in the best company. There’s Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, the Pope …’
