Leaning against the wall of the lime kilns, Lexi slid to the floor, happily sat on a long narrow blanket that had been spread out, and gratefully she wrapped herself in another that Becca had enthusiastically given her.
‘Wow, you came well prepared, didn’t you?’ Lexi relaxed into the blanket, smiled as Becca fussed around her, and watched as she tossed burgers while jiggling to the music.
‘Now, drinks. What do you want? We have lagers, hot chocolate…’ Becca picked up a flask, waved it around. ‘I mainly bring it for me because I don’t drink very often, well… barely at all. Not unless it’s a big celebration.’ She laughed, grabbed a styrofoam beaker from her bag, filled it with the steaming hot liquid, passed it to Lexi. ‘I make it according to Maggie’s recipe, with just a tot of brandy to warm the cockles.’
‘Oh, Lumumba, I’ll have some.’ A young woman walked to her side, pulled a fur-lined hood up to cover her dark auburn hair, gave Becca a sidewards look, then smiled awkwardly at Lexi. ‘I’m Vicki.’ She held out a gloved hand, then took the flask from Becca, who reluctantly held out a cup, watched as Vicki filled it. ‘If there’s one thing my sister can get right, it’s making a spiked hot chocolate.’ She laughed, sipped at the drink, then walked away with the cup in her hands and stood by the water’s edge, looking out.
Bristling, Becca pressed her lips tightly together. Ignored the comments and continued to flip the burgers. ‘Some of us should make our own,’ she finally said as she eased herself into Harry’s arms with a smile. Looking away, Lexi felt herself blush unnecessarily, looked up just in time to see Harry drop a kiss tenderly on Becca’s lips, before holding her in his arms as though his life depended on it. To Lexi, they were like polar opposites. Yet the embarrassment of earlier had now gone and in its place was a look of love and contentment and it occurred to Lexi that for the first time in years, Harry looked truly happy. The fury he’d had as a teenager had gone and in its place was a dreamy, hopeful look that was emphasised by the glow of the fire baskets, which had been placed randomly along the grass incline. It was a position not normally used, but with the weather pulling in, they’d made the camp nearer the kilns; it was just a few meters from the beach but a little more sheltered from the wind that now whipped around the headland with the ferocity of a hurricane. Yet tonight, even with the wind, the area looked peaceful, almost serene, and Lexi stood up and looked up to take in the bright golden lights of the castle, which gave the area a soft amber glow.
‘Harry, put me down, you’re getting sand all over my jacket.’ Becca squealed as she brushed the sand from the expensive-looking coat, then adjusted the scarf that had been expertly twisted into a loop around her head. ‘You’re being terribly rude to Lexi and we…’ She hooked an arm through Lexi’s. ‘We have a lot of catching up to do, maybe even a shopping day to plan.’ She spun around, turned her face into the glow of the bonfire, caught Lexi’s eye and then squealed again, as once again Harry’s arms went around her waist. ‘Lexi, tell him to put… me… down.’
Not wishing to get in the middle of a domestic, Lexi waved her hands in the air. ‘Oh, well. Of course, I normally would but, you know, I have a call to make.’ She stood up, held her phone in the air, and with the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders she moved into the shadow of the kilns where she hovered in the entrance, tapped at the phone’s screen, and felt her stomach turn with nerves as she heard Nate answer her call.
‘Lex, where the hell are you?’ Nate suddenly snapped. ‘I got home and, Jesus, the house looks like we were burgled. Do you know how many of the neighbours took great delight in telling me how you’d packed the car, and threw everything in, the moment I’d gone to work this morning? Do you know how smug Mrs Baker next door looked and how that made me feel? Christ, Lexi, I could have crawled into a hole and died.’ He caught his breath, didn’t give her the opportunity to speak. ‘I did nothing to deserve this, absolutely nothing.’ He paused momentarily, took deep heavy breaths. ‘I’ve worked my goddamn balls off to give you and Isla a good life, Lexi, and… and you, you take her away from me, right before Christmas.’ She heard a loud thud, followed by a yell. ‘She’s my daughter too; you can’t do this. You can’t just take her away from me and not tell me where the hell she is.’
‘Nate, don’t… please don’t punch walls.’ Closing her eyes, Lexi walked deeper into the kilns, to where the darkness loomed, and the only light was that of the moon that shone down and through the old broken chimneys, where protective grilles had been attached to the structure, to create thick black shadows that crossed the floor.
‘What the hell do you expect, Lexi? I’m furious.’ There was another thud, another bang, another yell.
‘Nate. I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m so sorry. But I had to leave, I had to protect Isla, I had to keep her safe.’ She closed her eyes as she said the words, couldn’t work out what to say next, how she’d tell him. Noticed that during his rant, he’d only been annoyed that she’d taken Isla and had never once mentioned her, or them and, painfully, she gripped a hand to her chest, felt herself sob deep within.
‘Lexi, what the hell are you talking about? Isla doesn’t need protecting; she was perfectly safe here, at home. With us.’
‘Oh, Nate, there’s so much you don’t know. I’m so sorry. I’ve kept so many secrets from you… I just don’t know where to begin.’ The tears sprung to her eyes, the shame of what her father had done, of who he was. ‘It’s something I should have told you years ago, before Isla was born and, well… we need to talk, I need to explain, but not like this, not over the phone.’ She spun on the spot, checked the darkness for shadows, spotted a courting couple pressed tightly against the wall and, embarrassed, she reversed in the opposite direction.
‘Talk. I don’t even know where the hell you are.’ His voice grew in both volume and temper and Lexi held the phone away from her ear, knew she had to tell him where she was, who she was staying with but felt the anxiety rise within her, the knowledge that once she’d told him, she couldn’t take it back. Hoped that by doing so, she wasn’t making a mistake. Swallowing, she counted to ten, suddenly felt an overwhelming need to see him.
‘Nate.’ She hesitated, caught her breath. ‘I’m on the island. Isla is safe. We’re staying at Maggie’s.’