Chapter 54
By evening, the beach bordering The Palms was alive with people. It was as if the entire island as well as their guests had come out for the long-awaited sunset celebration.
Together, the staff had pulled out all the stops.
There were fire-breathers and dancers delighting guests with their trickery and spectacular performances of the death-defying.
Meanwhile, acrobats somersaulted across the makeshift stage, while the DJ played local and Caribbean music to add to the beachy atmosphere.
Later, a steel pan band would come to the forefront but, for the moment, the DJ was doing a great job at getting everyone into the party spirit.
Right in front of the resort were three barbecue stations – pork, chicken and red meat – plus three other buffet areas where guests could sample a multitude of authentic local favourites.
No fettuccine alfredo to be had that night, but instead sumptuous Caribbean fare; accra – a fishcake rolled into balls and deep fried, Callaloo soup and Pouille Dudon, a rich chicken stew flavoured with treacle and coconut.
The kitchen had ensured nothing but the best in local cuisine was available and, following their previous catering hitch, Lily had magicked up a backup supplier to ensure nothing was left to chance.
Now, as Erin stood in her printed silk dress with her bare arms exposed to the warm Caribbean breeze, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Everything was going great.
‘Fantastic turnout, Miss Howard,’ a voice called from behind and she turned to see her predecessor come up alongside her. The previous Palms guest relations manager was smiling, his cherubic face lit up in the flame of the tiki torches and his twinkling eyes bright.
‘Roger!’ Erin greeted delightedly. ‘So lovely to see you back. How’s retirement going?’ she asked, grabbing a glass of red wine from a passing waiter to match the one he already held in his hand.
‘It’s not actually.’ He chuckled, taking a sip and when she looked up surprised, he shrugged. ‘I’m working at Breezy Shores these days.’
‘What? But why? I mean, I thought …’
He looked shiftily from side to side. ‘The head honchos fired me, Erin. Grant likes to tell everyone that the decision to “retire” was mine, but the truth was, I was pushed out.’
Erin couldn’t believe it. ‘But why?’ she gasped, mouth agape. ‘I mean, from what I heard you’d been with the hotel forever! Everyone here loves you and—’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘Everyone except higher management. They’ve been trying to offload this place – and me by extension – for years. I guess they truly believed that eco guy would be the final nail in The Palms’ coffin.’ Then he looked at her proudly. ‘Clearly, they hadn’t counted on you.’
Erin couldn’t concentrate, her thoughts immediately whirling back to Eugenie Cooke’s warning. ‘I don’t understand. What do you mean, the eco guy? Are you talking about Mack … I mean Daniel MacKenzie?’
‘Yes, I believe that’s his name. Sadly I never got the opportunity to meet him myself, but I believe … ’
‘Roger!’ Grant’s booming tones sounded from alongside them, immediately halting their conversation and, as the general manager went to shake the hand of The Palms’ staff stalwart he’d apparently pushed out, Erin couldn’t really concentrate on their subsequent exchange because her mind was reeling.
What did Roger mean when he said that Mack would be ‘the final nail in The Palm’s coffin’?
Surely it could only mean one thing. He had to be the saboteur Eugenie had been referring to in her letter; the faceless someone who had their sights set on ruining the resort’s reputation.
Oh god, how could she have been so dumb …
This time, Erin took a huge slug from the wine glass, feeling like the biggest idiot who ever walked the earth. Game, set and match.
She cast her mind back to recent events, how Mack had now so obviously been playing her from the start, pretending he didn’t know who she was that first day on Petit Piton, even having the cheek to flip it back on her, by saying it was she who was trying to play him?
Cringing afresh, she thought about her initial breakfast pitch in the Azure restaurant, her pitiful attempts to win Mack over, when all along he had no intention of recommending the resort for eco-certification or supposedly partnering with them.
Conversely, he was actually here to secure the place in its entirety for his backers! Whoever they might be.
Now, Erin was furious. To think she’d spent all this time showing him around, trying to showcase the best of what the resort and the island had to offer, to say nothing of her own professional competence, to impress him, when all along he’d been treating her like a fool.
Worse, she thought cringing afresh, he’d even gone so far as to let her think he was romantically interested in her!
What kind of asshole was this guy? What kind of sick … despicable …
‘Erin, this is amazing!’ Molly gushed, coming up to her, Trevor close behind.
She pasted on a smile, unwilling to trouble the other woman with what she’d learned. Though her heart was hammering.
‘Hey, you two,’ she greeted automatically. ‘You look like you’re enjoying yourselves.’
‘So where’s Mack?’ Trevor questioned as he sampled a miniature roti from his plate. ‘I was going to show him a couple of shots from our tour.’
As if he gives a shit, Erin thought darkly.
‘Somebody summon me?’ Mack’s warm breath tickled her ear as he came up behind her as if out of nowhere, and Erin jumped a little. He nonchalantly grabbed an accra from the buffet platter nearby, and popped the entire thing in his mouth. ‘That’s delicious,’ he asserted, quickly grabbing another.
‘Hey, I got those photos developed,’ Trevor enthused.
‘Absolutely great stuff. You should take a look before you leave in case you want to take any home with you,’ he added, slipping a proprietary arm around Molly’s shoulders.
Erin noticed the delight that spread across her face and her cheeks flush at the easy affectionate gesture, but she couldn’t even muster up a suitable response.
She was too furious with Mack.
‘You’re leaving soon?’ she asked him through gritted teeth. Of course, you are.
‘Well, sure, but not tonight anyway. Too much fun to be had.’ He glanced back at her and smirked, before inclining his head curiously when he noticed the thunderous expression on her face.
Erin turned away from his gaze to see Josh and Maria Beaumont further down on the beach, entwined closely together as they danced to the music. The newlyweds hadn’t complained about Wi-Fi since. Seemed Erin’s machinations had finally opened their eyes.
Well, that was something at least.
‘Feeling envious?’ Mack teased, following her gaze. He moved closer and she deftly stepped away, now repulsed by his proximity.
‘Why the hell would I be envious?’ she replied, as Trevor and Molly looked on uncomfortably, evidently taken aback by Erin’s unusually sullen demeanour.
‘I don’t know. You tell me,’ Mack drawled, and she didn’t even have a second to respond before he’d taken her hand and was leading her further out onto the sand to where a small crowd had already gathered to dance a little way down from the bonfire.
‘What the hell do you think you’re—’
Before Erin could process what was happening, he pulled her closer to him. ‘Do you ever stop talking?’ he muttered, cutting her off.
‘My boss is watching,’ she protested, trying to keep him at arm’s-length, though it was impossible when he was holding her so closely.
‘Let him get his own girl,’ he stated possessively. ‘You’re taken.’
‘Am I now?’ she demanded as Mack began to lead her further away from the crowd, his hips swaying to the calypso beat.
Though he wasn’t nearly as rhythmic as the locals, who were keeping perfect time to the tempo.
The sizzling beat seemed to be infecting everyone and, soon enough, Trevor and Molly were out alongside them.
As Erin glanced around, she noticed a host of resort guests gathered and laughing around the bonfire, delight etched on their faces as they relished a night of fun and frolicking under the clear Caribbean sky.
For them, there was nothing to think about other than the moment and that point in time while they were having the time of their lives.
All was forgotten. There was no work. No obligations.
No stress or demands. They were free and living each moment as their best moment.
She wished she was one of them.
‘You seem a little … off tonight,’ Mack spoke again, his lips way too close to her ear. ‘I get that’s it been a stressful time but now you can relax and let—’
Erin stepped back, disentangling herself from his arms once and for all. ‘Oh, you get that, do you? Snakes and cancelled entertainment, flooding pipes and missing laundry, not to mention some jumped-up demanding CEO whose sole intent was to grab my strings and dangle me around like a puppet?’
It was dangerous to outright confront him like this, she knew, but still Erin couldn’t help it. She was angry, betrayed and, most of all, confused. Why would he lead her on like that? It was one thing to be cut-throat about a business proposition, but why toy with her feelings in the process?
What did Daniel MacKenzie have to gain by that?
‘What do you mean?’ He frowned in confusion. ‘Are you talking about me? I didn’t dangle anything …’
Molly and Trevor came up to them then, Molly’s eyes shining as she glanced excitedly at Mack. ‘Did he tell you?’
‘Tell me what?’ Now Erin was more confused than ever. She looked back at Mack’s face, illuminated by the bonfire flame, but his expression was unreadable.
‘About my mother’s … I mean, my shareholding in the resort!
’ Molly grinned happily. ‘You were right; I do need to follow my own path and, thanks to Mack’s generous offer, I now have the means to do so.
Trevor came to the bank with me yesterday to help with all the documents and transfers—’ she looked adoringly from one man to the other ‘—to sell my shares in The Palms to Mack.’