The next few days were lovely. Gavin always found half an hour to give me a swimming lesson, and these were my favourite half-hours of the day. As I climbed out of the pool on the fourth day, he smiled at me.
‘You’re doing really well, Megan.’ he said. ‘You’re a model pupil. You have a lovely stroke, and lots of stamina.’
‘Oh,’ I said. His praise was making me feel embarrassed, and my next words came out by accident. ‘I think I might try out for the school swim team when I get back home.’
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ he said. ‘You definitely should. You’d be great. Now I’ve got to go, Robyn’s waiting.’
By now, Gavin spent most of his time with Robyn. They weren’t all soppy and smoochy and kissy-kissy, but they just looked totally happy, like they belonged together.
Alice, Grace and I spent most of our time sunbathing, or swimming in one of the pools. Every night Eddie or Lorna cooked a delicious barbecue, and we ate out on the terrace, enjoying the warm air and the smell of holidays.
One morning I woke up and my first thought was – I’m in this amazing place.
My second thought was – We’ve only got two days left.
Why does time always have to go so quickly when you’re having fun?
* * *
‘Where’s everyone?’ asked Alice that lunchtime, when we got back after a brilliant game of mini-golf.
‘I guess Gavin is off somewhere being romantic with Robyn,’ said Grace, as she used her key to let us in. ‘But I don’t know where Mum and Dad could be. They went to play tennis, but they should be back here by now. Dad said he wanted to try out a new barbecue recipe for lunch.’
She didn’t seem too worried, so I decided not to worry either. Grace got us each an ice-cream from the freezer and we lay by the pool for a while, enjoying the warm sunshine.
When Gavin came back an hour later, there was still no sign of Eddie and Lorna. He tried both their phones, but no one answered his mum’s and we could hear the sound of his dad’s phone ringing on the kitchen counter. Gavin was trying to act casual, but it wasn’t really working. He sat on a sunlounger next to us for a few minutes, but he couldn’t relax. He was all jumpy and nervous and he kept checking his watch.
‘Relax, Gav,’ said Grace after a while. ‘Mum and Dad are grown-ups. They don’t have to tell us where they are every minute of every day. They’ve probably decided to go out for lunch or something.’
‘But I wanted to see them before I go,’ he said.
‘You’re going somewhere?’ asked Grace. ‘You never said.’
‘Is it a romantic date with Robyn?’ asked Alice. ‘Maybe you should buy her flowers. Or you could “borrow” some from the villa at the end of this road. They’ve got heaps in their garden.’
He went red. ‘Actually it’s not really a date. It’s more like I’m doing her a favour.’
‘What kind of favour?’ asked Alice. ‘Are you going to rescue her from a dragon or something? That’s totally romantic.’
I thought she was being kind of cheeky, but Gavin didn’t seem to mind.
‘It’s not all that romantic,’ he said. ‘Robyn’s Spanish cousins live on the other side of the island, and they’re having a big family celebration tonight.’
‘I’m not seeing the favour here,’ said Alice.
‘Well, when Robyn was a kid, her cousins bullied her a lot,’ he said. ‘There’s seven of them, and they always ganged up on her. They used to tease her for her English accent, and her English ways.’
‘That’s really mean. Poor Robyn,’ I said, thinking of how bad I feel when Melissa is around.
‘Yeah,’ said Gavin. ‘It was rotten. Anyway, ages ago, Robyn told the mean cousins she’d be bringing her boyfriend to the party, and they made a big deal of it.’
‘But now the boyfriend isn’t around any more, and they’re giving her a hard time?’ said Grace.
‘Exactly,’ said Gavin. ‘They think she was lying, and they keep sending her texts about her “imaginary boyfriend”.’
‘That’s rotten,’ said Alice.
‘Totally,’ said Gavin. ‘So anyway, now that Robyn and I are … friends, she’s asked me to go to the party with her – for moral support.’
‘That’s sweet,’ said Alice. ‘I presume you said you’d go?’
Gavin nodded. ‘Of course. I want to help her.’
‘That’s nice of you,’ I said, thinking that the mean cousins couldn’t pick on her if she showed up with a totally cool, nice boy like Gavin.
He smiled at me. ‘Thanks, Megan,’ he said. ‘It’s all sorted, but I just wanted to tell Mum and Dad before I go. The cousins live kind of far away, so we have to leave soon. And the party will go on very late, so we’re going to stay in her aunt’s house for the night.’
‘Totally romantic,’ said Grace, quickly ducking as he pretended to hit her.
‘You and Robyn can have a beautiful day tomorrow,’ said Alice. ‘You could shake off the mean cousins and explore the other side of the island together.’
Gavin gave a dreamy smile. ‘That would be nice, but it’s not going to happen. Robyn’s dad is dropping me back here first thing in the morning. He and Robyn are playing golf at ten.’
Grace checked her watch again. ‘Mum and Dad should definitely be back by now,’ she said. ‘And it’s totally weird that they haven’t rung us.’ For the first time, she was starting to look worried.
Gavin jumped up. ‘You’re right, Grace,’ he said. ‘They never stay away this long without letting us know where they are. I’m going to take a walk down to the security office. Maybe José has seen them.’
Just as he got to the door though, the phone in the kitchen rang.
‘It’s Mum,’ he said, as he stood in the doorway and answered it. ‘Hey Mum, what’s up? Why aren’t you …?’
Then he stopped talking, and looked serious. The rest of us didn’t even pretend not to listen. ‘He what? Oh, no. Is he OK? Poor Dad.’
He talked for ages, and the rest of us did our best to understand what was going on – not easy when we could only hear half of the conversation.
Finally he hung up. ‘Dad fell when he was playing tennis this morning,’ he said. ‘José drove him and Mum to the hospital. They’ve just seen the doctor and she said that Dad’s shoulder was dislocated.’
‘Ouch,’ said Alice. ‘I don’t like the sound of that.’
‘So what happens next,’ asked Grace. ‘Can they relocate it?’
Gavin nodded. ‘I’m not sure that’s what they call it, but, yes, they’re going to put it back into place soon. Mum says Dad will be fine once it’s done, and that they should be home in a few hours.’
He looked at his watch again. ‘Maybe I should stay here till Mum and Dad get back. Maybe I should tell Robyn that I can’t go with her to her cousins’ place.’
‘No way!’ said Alice quickly. ‘I mean, that probably isn’t a good idea.’
‘She’s right,’ said Grace. ‘Poor Robyn – you promised her you’d go and you can’t let her down. You can’t leave her to face her mean cousins all on her own. You go ahead to the party. We’ll tell Mum and Dad where you are.’
‘I’m not sure,’ he said, looking worried. ‘Will you three be OK here until Mum and Dad get back?’
Grace rolled her eyes. ‘We’re thirteen,’ she said.
‘We’re very sensible,’ I said, meaning Grace and I are very sensible and we’ll keep an eye on Alice.
‘Well, maybe it would be OK,’ said Gavin.’
‘Of course it will be OK,’ said Alice.
She jumped up and practically pushed him towards the stairs. ‘Robyn will be waiting,’ she said. ‘So hurry up and get what you need. Remember you’ve got to impress the mean cousins, so you’ve got to look your best. I think you should bring your pale blue shirt – that’s really cool, and your navy trousers and you should wear that aftershave that smells like lemons and ……’
Gavin laughed as he backed towards the stairs. ‘I get it,’ he said. ‘I’m going.’
I didn’t say anything. I thought I was the only one who’d noticed Gavin’s lemon-scented aftershave.