Chapter 48
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.
She was laughing when her head returned to the surface.
Shay slicked back his dark hair and then moved around in the water a little before coming to rest against the side of the pool.
All the while his other arm remained around Lily’s waist, holding her close while her heart beat a mile a minute.
She didn’t mean to stare at his face, but couldn’t help it as he smiled down at her.
‘I think this may be the best place you’ve shown me yet,’ he remarked.
‘I’m glad you approve,’ she murmured. ‘I really wanted you to enjoy our last jaunt,’ she added, her tone betraying her sadness.
She still couldn’t believe that their time together truly was drawing to a close. His stay had truly flown by and there were only two days left.
With the sunset party looming, Lily had no time to concentrate on anything but work from now on, and he was due to fly out the day after the event, which would make her final pièce de résistance at the hotel even more bittersweet.
Not to mention that she didn’t want him to go. Despite Dee and her mother’s warnings, Lily had allowed herself to enjoy the facade of having someone special in her life, but as reality drew nearer, the pain of loss was once again looming.
‘Hold your breath,’ Shay murmured, and soon those sombre thoughts were washed away as he let go of the side of the pool and submerged them both once again.
Beneath, the surface was darker, but the water was nonetheless clear.
Shay swam towards a deeper location and Lily followed.
They touched the cave floor and she traced her fingers along the curvature of rocks rippling from the rhythmic wearing that formed its surface.
It was a subterranean aquatic wonderland and the perfect place to forget the world outside. Lily keenly embraced that promise.
When their heads broke the surface once more, they both moved to sit, half submerged on the rocky outline of the pool with the cave opening behind.
Lily pushed her hair back from her face where it had begun to stick to her cheeks and neck. Shay helped, brushing some of the longer strands at her collarbone back over her shoulder. The sensation of his fingers on her skin caused goosebumps to rise.
‘I can’t believe that my time here is almost over,’ he commented as if reading her mind. ‘It seems to have flown by,’ he mumbled distractedly.
‘I know. It seems like you only arrived yesterday. And now it’s almost time for you to go.’
‘So what happens from here?’ he asked then and her heart flip-flopped afresh.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Where are we headed now? Or are we staying here for the day?’
‘Oh,’ she mumbled, trying to conceal her disappointment.
She’d thought he meant between them, not their sightseeing.
‘I was thinking we could explore the cave a bit more, have lunch and then head to Castries,’ she suggested almost on autopilot.
‘You have to see the capital at least a little before you go. I can’t have you going back home and telling people I didn’t take you there. ’
He laughed. ‘With everything else you’ve shown me, I don’t think anyone would chastise you for that. I’m practically a native myself at this stage.’
They stayed in the pool for a while before hunger eventually urged them to return to the surface and onwards to the capital.
Since Shay had clearly no intention of keeping up their friendship or whatever this was … Lily realised, swallowing back her disappointment, she should instead concentrate on enjoying it for what it was.
And try to savour every last minute.