Patti shot her a questioning look. It seemed a strange thing to say when she lived in such a beautiful place, Sandra thought.Mind you, going on holiday was one thing, but living in another country was completely different.
Mary had her eyes still focused on the big yacht. ‘When you’re young, you think anything is possible. But when you’re older your best years are behind you.’
‘Maybe youryouthis behind you, but your best years could still be ahead of you. There’s so many money worries and problems when you’re raising a family, don’t you think? And so easy to make the wrong decisions.’ Patti looked thoughtful. ‘You don’t realise when you’re young how much one decision could alter your life.’
‘I can see what you both mean. When Brian died, I thought that was it, my life was finished. Lately though, I’ve come to realise that it isn’t finished, it’s just different. It’s a life without Brian, and that seems empty and strange, but it’s still a life and it’s up to me what I make of it,’ Sandra said thoughtfully.
Patti nodded. ‘I was so grateful to come through cancer, and to feel almost normal again, that I promised myself I would make the most of every day.’
Mary seemed to give herself a little shake, then she downed her drink. ‘Which is exactly what we all should do.’
‘Let’s go and check out that billionaire’s yacht, we can take a few photos for our Instagram page,’ Patti suggested. ‘And maybe we could book ourselves on a boat trip for later. That would be another thing off your bucket list, Sandra.’
‘That would be fantastic,’ Sandra replied. This was only the first proper day of their holiday but already they had done so much.
‘If I had a bucket list going, a sail on that billionaire’s yacht would be on it!’ Mary quipped.
‘Why don’t you make a bucket list?’ Sandra suggested. ‘It’s fun. You could do an Instagram page like us! I think a lot ofpeople would be interested in your life out here. You’d have some fabulous photo opportunities.’
Mary’s eyes clouded. ‘To be honest, if I made a bucket list now, it would only have one thing on it. To get Keith to go back to how he used to be. We used to have such fun. We were always out and about—’ Her voice broke and Sandra felt sure that behind the sunglasses there were tears in her eyes.
Patti reached over and gave her sister-in-law a hug. ‘I’m so sorry love.’
They paid their bill then crossed the road to look at the yacht. It really was magnificent.
‘Look, there’s even a helipad,’ Patti said. ‘Whoever owns this has serious money.’
‘Sorry, ladies, but I’m afraid we’ll have to settle for a smaller boat to have a ride in,’ Mary said. ‘Let’s check them out and see what times the sailings are then we can plan our afternoon.’
There were a few catamarans offering tours at various times of the afternoon and evening, they decided on a sunset trip which was an hour long. ‘That will give us time to do a bit of shopping and see the beach. It’s only a small one but worth a visit,’ Mary said.
‘We won’t get home until late though. Won’t Keith mind?’ Patti asked. ‘You did say he didn’t like to be left for long.’
‘I’ll message and let him know, he’ll be fine. It was his choice to stay at home. To be honest I’m hoping he will get bored being on his own and decide to come with us next time,’ Mary said. ‘Now, how about we check out the beach, before we go to the shops.’
She paid for the boat ride tickets, insisting that it was her treat – the man spoke English well enough for them to understand – and headed for the small beach.
‘The sand is a bit gritty so you might want to keep your sandals on until you get to the sea,’ she said.
‘But we’ll get sand in them,’ Patti protested.
‘Don’t say you weren’t warned!’ Mary said as Patti slipped off her sandals, and held them in her hands, dangling them from her fingers. Sandra followed suit. Then they both tiptoed over the sand, with gasps of ‘Ouch!’ ‘Ow!’
They were now paddling in the clear blue ocean, sandals still dangling from their fingers, big smiles on their faces. When she reached the water’s edge, Mary took off her sandals and joined them.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Sandra said. ‘And so warm.’ She felt herself relaxing as the sea gently lapped over her feet. It was so wonderful to be here. ‘This is the life!’ she said, standing with her legs wide open, arms outstretched, head back and eyes closed. She felt invigorated and free, her worries seeming completely insignificant in this beautiful place.
Suddenly a shower of water splashed over her and she jolted her eyes open to find Patti grinning. ‘Wake up, daydreamer!’
Mary kicked up a spray of water over Patti from behind. ‘You should always watch your back!’ She laughed.
The three women larked about for a while, paddling in the sea, basking in the warm sun. Then they dried their feet with a tissue, luckily they all carried a packet, slipped on their sandals and walked back along the front, where there were quite a few shops and some pop-up stores selling a selection of clothes and gifts.
‘This is so pretty,’ Sandra said.
‘It’s even prettier at Christmas with all the lights and the stalls selling festive things,’ Mary told her. ‘You’ll have to come over again and see for yourself.’
‘Sandra might be in Australia for Christmas,’ Patti said.
