Chapter 39 #2
It’s a lot to process. ‘Do the expats know about the new eco resort?’ I can’t imagine they’ll sit there and do nothing. It’ll be chaos.
‘They will soon enough.’ He gestures to the three Lucys, who sit on the day beds with faces like stunned mullets.
There’s a niggle that I can’t reconcile. ‘Xavier wouldn’t hurt his mum by forsaking the Last Chance Resort, he just wouldn’t.’
‘You don’t know him that well.’
I know he’s a guy who takes feedback on board.
A man who does an experiment wearing the polyester staff uniform to check if it is comfortable or not.
He reinstated streaming, he stopped deducting from wages for breakages even though some of those ‘breakages’ were just staff reporting them as such when they were actually thefts and he was trying to send a message without firing anyone.
That doesn’t seem like the type of man who only cares about the profit margin.
He has delayed promenade redevelopment, which tells me he’s considerate of their feelings on the matter.
‘What if there’s something else at play here?’
‘Wishful thinking.’ Michel does a bitter laugh.
‘This isn’t a romance book, Harper. There won’t be some plot twist at the end that proves he cared all along.
Xavier’s always seen himself as better than the rest of us.
He’ll ruin our island, sell everything to the highest bidder and then return to the States, like he’s always wanted to do. ’
‘You really think he’d do that to his mum?
’ To the expats who helped raise him? To the staff he snuck in when they were kids?
It doesn’t ring true, but Michel’s right – in the real world these sort of deals happen all the time, so why do I find it so hard to believe?
Am I na?ve? Or just hopeful that the man I’ve seen when Xavier takes his mask off is what he proports to be?
A man who cares about his mum, this island and the people.
‘It’ll take years to build the new resort. And then he’ll sell. I’m sure Mrs Bastille won’t be aware of the entirety of his plans until it’s too late.’
‘Have you asked him about any of this?’
He scoffs. ‘Like he’d tell me the truth.’
‘I’m just not certain.’
‘The guy fired Gus, Harper. Old man Gus who has been on this island as long as his own mother has. A man who helped raise him after his dad died. What kind of person could do such a thing?’
‘But why did he fire him?’
‘Over money! It’s always about money with Xavier. That’s all it ever comes down to.’
He scrubs his face as if the conversation has taken it out of him.
That coupled with the intense heat has taken it out of me.
The confession stops me in my tracks. He fired the guy who helped raised him since he was a boy?
From Gus’s own words in the letter he left for me in the notebook I know he did something wrong – he spoke of his transgressions – but how bad could they be to have resulted in Xavier firing a father figure who has been on the island with his mum since the seventies?
What if Michel is right and Xavier isn’t who I think he is? Wouldn’t it be just my luck to have been fooled again by a guy with mad charisma? That aside, there’s a lot to worry about for the locals and expats.
Michel flips that switch in the way he so often does. His cheeky smile soon returns. ‘So, where are we having dinner, here or mine?’
‘You wish.’
‘I do wish.’
I laugh. ‘You’re welcome to join me and the gang for dinner in the staff kitchen—’
‘But that’s not a date.’
‘No, it isn’t!’
‘You’ve broken my heart.’ He makes a show of clutching his chest.
‘Liar.’ Michel loves a performance. I’m sure Joji learned all his tricks from growing up with him. ‘Why don’t you tell Mariola how you feel? Why hide behind this persona?’
He blanches. ‘What?’ It’s good to get the upper hand over Michel.
‘It’s blatantly obvious.’
‘It is,’ Lucy says.
‘You trail after Mariola like a lost puppy,’ Lucia says with a laugh.
Michel’s complexion reddens. ‘I – I do not!’
‘Yes, you do!’
For the first time ever, he’s lost for words. ‘Mariola is too good for me.’
‘Yeah,’ I agree. ‘But something tells me she’s got a soft spot for you too – why, who knows.’ I’ve caught her double takes when he’s in the vicinity. Her averted gaze when he glances her way.
‘Really?’
‘Really. Maybe you could offer her some driving lessons? She’s one step away from mowing down a guest. My heart is in my throat every time she hoots along in the golf cart.’
‘Yes,’ Lucy Lou says. ‘We’ve put Brian in her path so many times but she just misses him.’
‘You… what?’ I ask.
‘Nothing, nothing.’
The smiley-faced pilot has given me a lot to think about.
Does Xavier plan on selling the Last Chance Resort down the track?
He has every right to, but it would be a shock to his mum, the expats and staff.
There’s no question things would change around here; it’s likely the expats wouldn’t be offered the same affordable price they are now.
What would become of them? They’re on limited incomes and would have to move on.
But where to? The resort would lose its soul without them and their sketchy behaviour.