Chapter 42
The next day I’m getting ready for the reading sundowner. I’m keen to give guests a tour of the bookshop and finish with a glass of bubbles as they watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean and chat to other bookworms.
Turt gives me a sad look, stretching his neck as I cart plastic chairs to the sand.
He lets out that same forlorn sound that I read as heartbreak and not pain.
‘You miss your pal, don’t you, Turt?’ I deposit the chair on the sand and hunch down beside the tortoise.
‘I bet he’s missing you too. It’s not often you read a book where a tortoise is the sidekick. ’
The three Lucys wander up the path and wave.
‘Ladies.’
‘Putting the world to rights with Turt, are you?’
I sling my hands in the pockets of my cutoffs. ‘Yeah. He’s a good listener but I’m really worried about him. The conservationists visited this morning to check him over. They’re of the opinion there’s nothing wrong, but they’re not with him all day like I am. He’s pining, no two ways about it.’
They give me sympathetic nods. ‘It’s possible. Turt’s eyes are not as bright with his favourite human missing. And I’m sure Gus is feeling much the same.’
‘I finally heard about Gus’s wife, and how she isn’t well.’
‘Yes,’ Lucy says simply.
‘But that’s not why he left the bookshop?’
‘No.’
I have a wild theory but knowing the expats like I do now maybe it’s not that wild after all. ‘Gus really did steal a bunch of money and took a speedboat to Mahé, didn’t he?’
Lucy frowns. ‘We didn’t exactly keep it a secret, Harper. A number of us confirmed this with you.’
I huff. ‘Well, this might shock you, ladies, but I thought you were joking because it’s so outlandish.’
All three shake their heads as if they’re disappointed in me. These are the card-cheating hustlers, I remind myself. ‘We never lie.’
‘That’s a lie.’
‘When do we lie?’
‘When you cheat at cards. When you con guests to bet on a game you’ve already rigged. When you—’
Lucy holds up a hand to shush me. ‘That’s not lying, Harper. That’s sport. Just a bit of innocent fun.’
‘Is it?’
They confer with a glance at each other, and something silent passes between them. When they turn back, Lucy says, ‘Fine, we’ll level with you since it appears you’re trustworthy and have passed all the tests that have been set for you.’
‘What tests?’
‘Do you want to hear the truth or not?’
‘I do. I’ll zip my lips.’
She lets out a weary sigh as if I’m testing her patience. ‘Gus did steal a bunch of money, but he didn’t mean to.’
‘Well, he definitely did,’ Lucia corrects.
Lucy acknowledges that with a nod. ‘You’re right, Lucia. He didn’t mean to get caught, is what I should have said. Anyone facing the same plight would have done the same as him.’
Lucia takes a deep breath. ‘His wife got sick and none of the treatment worked. There was an experimental trial, a last chance situation.’ They let that sink in for a moment.
Haven’t we all found our way here in the hopes of a last chance?
And there is none bigger than a last chance to live. The mood grows heavy.
‘Gus got her into the trial, but as you can imagine the cost was exorbitant. They had some great success with the first trial, but she needed more. When the chance came to join the second trial, Gus was all out of funds. Desperate, he began pilfering money from the bookshop to pay each month. Fiddling with the accounts, so Xavier wouldn’t find out, but of course, you can’t hide losses that big, not in this day and age where figures are a click of a button away.
’ So this explains why the turnover was so small for a bookshop of its size.
Even now, by slowly building sales and trying new initiatives, the figures are much higher.
It’s because the profit and loss statements were being manipulated.
What a desperate state Gus must have been in to do such a thing.
Lucy Lou interjects. ‘Gus planned to pay it all back!’
Lucy nods. ‘He had no other option. I’d have done the very same.’
‘He panicked. He couldn’t miss paying an instalment, especially as her condition worsened and he was also needed by her side.’
‘And he didn’t tell any of us she was sick. We thought she was visiting her daughter. We only found out the truth much later.’
I blink. ‘And Xavier fired him once he found out?’
‘Yeah. Fired him over voicemail because Gus had already gone by then. The speedboat bit wasn’t a lie either.’ They give me a slight smirk.
I remember back to the phone interview with Gus, the abrupt voice of Xavier demanding an urgent meeting. Xavier must have found out by then, but Gus had hired me so at least the bookshop could continue on and he could make his great speedboat escape.
‘Did Xavier know about Gus’s reasons why when he fired him?’
They shake their heads sadly. ‘No, he didn’t.
So Xavier’s reaction was understandable.
He’d thought this great man, a man who inspired his love of reading, a man who was a father figure to him growing up, who was a safe harbour, did the wrong thing by him.
You can imagine how that would feel? Like all that trust had been displaced. ’
‘Yes, I can.’ What a mess. ‘But Xavier knows the truth now? Why Gus did what he did.’
They nod. ‘Xavier has tried to make peace but it’s Gus who has to forgive – himself. Gus loves Xavier like a son, and to break that trust hurt him just as much.’
‘Why didn’t Gus just ask Xavier for help with the medical costs?’
Lucy gives me a sad smile. ‘Don’t you see, Harper?
Mrs Bastille nearly lost half the resort in her last divorce.
And the one before that cost her a pretty penny.
And the one before, and on it goes. Xavier returned to the resort determined to put a stop to men leaching off his mother, leaching in general.
He spoke in depth about it to Gus, how his mother only saw the good in people but that always bit her in the end.
Knowing that, Gus couldn’t exactly ask for money, could he?
He’d already sold his house to pay for the trials and was still left short. And now they have no home, no income.’
‘And his wife, is she doing better?’
Lucy Lou gives me a wobbly smile. ‘The trial is coming to an end, but we haven’t had an update on Anne-Marie’s health. No one really wants to ask in case it’s bad news. We just check in with Gus and tell him we miss him and that we’ll always be here for them both.’
‘The trial was the last chance to save his beloved’s life; no one could begrudge him that. Where can I reach Gus?’