Chapter Twenty
The curtains billowed lazily in the breeze and Nick listened to the roar of the sea from outside. She had gone to sleep with the window open and the sea air had allowed her to sleep like the dead. At some point in the night the storm had become too violent, and she had closed the windows, but it looked like they might have a draught.
Ohana had been whimpering in the night and Nick was worried about disturbing the other guests. She scooped the little dog up and placed her on the bed by her feet and watched in amusement as Ohana fell straight back into a slumber.
‘Don’t think you’re sleeping on my bed when we get home,’ she chided but was certain that Ohana suffered from selective deafness.
Nick threw back the curtains and laughed at what she saw. Grabbing her phone off the bedside table, she took a quick photo and pinged a text to Paddy. Almost immediately a text came back.
-Is that seaweed?
-Yes!!!!
-OMG. I thought you were on the second floor?
-I AM.
-Wow. Wild night!
Wild night indeed. Nick signed off saying she was off to breakfast in a bit. If Paddy was texting rather than picking up the phone it meant that she didn’t want to disturb Eleanor .
It was funny: growing up Nick desperately didn’t want to be a twin and had done everything to disassociate herself from Paddy. Now in her twenties with Paddy’s attention focussed on Hal and Elly, Nick suddenly felt the separation like a constant sad tug.
Her phone pinged again.
-Love you. Chat later.
Smiling, Nick put the phone back and headed to the shower. Ohana was asleep on the bed so Nick let her sleep, last night had been wild. The wind had screamed all around the castle, her windows had whistled, and she had jumped out of bed several times, convinced that the latches had come loose. There had been a huge crash at one point, and for a second Nick had thought the house was falling down. Eventually she and Ohana stopped shaking and fell asleep at about four in the morning, when it seemed that the force of the storm had passed through.
Having showered, she put food and water down in the bathroom for Ohana and woke her up. The little dog stretched out her long body and then gave a huge yawn, her little tongue curling back in her mouth. Nick put her on the floor and laughed as she instantly started running around the room and then dashed straight towards her food. Happy that Ohana was occupied, she got dressed and looked out the window again. The sea was still a cauldron of big white waves and the dark skies promised more rain. A large white gull tried to fly through the wind and Nick hoped that it would quickly get to dry land. Her shoulders felt sore just looking at that bird sweeping up and down against the black clouds .
Ohana attacked her foot and she realised with a start that she had been standing at the window watching the waves for too long. She had arranged to join Gabe for breakfast at eight and it was already ten past.
She threw on her clothes, popped Ohana on her lead and hurried downstairs. Walking through the foyer she saw a lot of people milling around the front door but didn’t stop to see what was going on, too busy looking forward to seeing Gabe. The breakfast room was already full, and she scanned the room for him. It didn’t take long as he stood up as she walked in and headed over.
‘Good morning, Letta the Bold!’
Nick grinned. Gabe must have been watching the entrance waiting for her to come down. He reminded them of their shared adventure yesterday on the causeway. She clicked her heels together and offered him a quick bow.
‘And a good morning to you, Gabriel the Brave.’ Laughing, she pulled her chair out and sat down. ‘So tell me, did you sleep better with a coachload of tourists or with a raging storm?’
Gabe poured Nick a coffee and grinned. ‘My night was full of drama. A tree fell in the courtyard and smashed my window. Three a.m. and I was covered in wet leaves. I’ve never had so many adventures before. I blame you.’
Nick stared at him in alarm. He seemed remarkably chipper about something that would have terrified her.
‘Are you serious? I mean about the tree?’
‘God’s honest. I imagine that’s what the brouhaha in the hall is about. Trying to make the tree safe and secure the damaged rooms. ’
‘You seem so calm?’
‘Always got to look on the upside. I got an upgrade into their family suite. It’s huge and well away from my noisy neighbours. Unless you and Ohana decide to start howling.’
‘We don’t howl. But my God, the wind did last night.’
‘Yes. I know.’
Nick groaned, of course he knew. Still, it was nice that he was in the main house now, she thought, although she wasn’t prepared to investigate too deeply why she thought that. A holiday romance was the last thing on her mind; yet there was something about Gabe that felt so natural.
Just then, Mairead Devaney entered the room and clapped her hands together attracting the attention of all the guests.
‘As you are all aware, we had quite a storm last night.’ She paused for a few chuckles and then carried on. ‘Unfortunately, it has caused some issues. Some of you have already been inconvenienced by finding a tree in your bedrooms. However, the bigger concern is the causeway. It was damaged by the waves and is not currently safe to drive on.’
The room erupted as people called out, some getting to their feet. Nick and Gabe exchanged glances and waited for the guests to settle down.
‘Highway engineers will be along at low tide to assess the damage, that will be around lunchtime. Can I ask that you all come back here at 1 p.m. so that we can update you? The main issue is that at the moment the seas are too rough to land a boat and at low tide you won’t be able to drive off, but you may be able to walk off. Obviously, we know the issue is your cars but don’t worry, we are dealing with this. In the meantime, please try to enjoy your breakfast and if anyone has an urgent need to be off the island, please come to reception now.’
Mrs Devaney left the room and Nick wanted to see if she could help, although at the moment she knew that she was as likely to get in the way.
‘Bloody hell, trapped on an island. The adventure continues,’ said Nick, who loved reading crime novels. ‘Who do you think the first victim will be?’
Gabe choked on his coffee and laughing, began to look around the room.
‘Him. The guy that wears his slippers into the dining room. Something very off about him.’
Nick loved the fact that Gabe instantly got the direction she was going in and the two of them spent a silly few minutes deciding who the murderer was and what the motive would be. They only stopped when Roisin came over to take their order.
‘All go this morning, so it is. I’ve got a date this evening with Patrick and if I can’t get off this fecking island, there’ll be ructions. I’ve been waiting for him to ask for months and now this. What if I can’t make it and he doesn’t ask me again?’
‘He will if he’s worth it,’ said Gabe reassuringly. ‘He’s probably shy and has been building up the courage to ask you out.’
‘As if. Patrick Donlan is the finest around. He has girls tripping over him.’
‘Well, it might do him some good to be stood up then,’ said Nick tartly. ‘Like Gabe says, if he’s into you he’ll ask again, or better yet why don’t you ask him? Just call him up and reschedule?’
Roisin rolled her eyes. ‘So, the thing ye don’t understand is that if I don’t go on this date tonight, he won’t realise we’re supposed to be together. He’ll go out with someone else and that could be that. He finds his soulmate and it’s not me!’
‘Well, then you weren’t supposed to be together,’ said Gabe. ‘I think it’ll be fine.’
‘Aye, it’s all right for ye two. You’ve already found each other. All that laughing together and talking on about being adventurers and every time one of ye thinks the other isn’t looking ye keep staring at each other. That’s what I want. I want Patrick to look at me the way you look at Letta. Anyways, what can I get you?’
As Roisin left with their order, the pair of them stared awkwardly at the tablecloth. Gabe tried to break the ice.
‘Teenagers.’
‘What do they know?’
‘Exactly.’
The silence fell again. Nick didn’t know what to do with it – it was like a large, misshapen lump that had landed on the table in front of them and kept swallowing anything she thought to say. The idea that Gabe was indeed staring at her flooded her with little giggles. She had been attracted to him almost immediately, he was clever and fast-witted but more importantly he made her laugh. She had laughed more this trip than in the past year but now she didn’t know how to proceed. At that moment Ohana started to get restless and Nick thanked every saint she could think of as the dog peered around.
‘Here, give me her lead,’ said Gabe, ‘I’ll take her outside for a quick leg stretch. Call me when food arrives.’
Nick tried to protest but Gabe waved her off, telling her to enjoy her coffee. She had his number already. Gabe thought ahead and took charge of things, he was very much a kindred spirit.
When he returned to the table, he was full of cheer.
‘I just checked with Mrs Devaney and all the hotel’s guests are currently here in the dining room. Which means that the person my father wanted me to keep an eye on isn’t here and I can now officially play hooky. So, can I help you today with your research? Or entertain Ohana, or both? Maybe at lunch we can take a stroll around the island and inspect the damage. That’s if the rain stops?’
Gabe was positively bouncy; it was clear that he had been reluctant to follow his father’s wishes and Nick couldn’t blame him. Sometimes working for the family was tough.
‘That sounds like a plan. Help me with the research until you get bored then maybe play with Ohana and come and get me for the walk?’
With the plan made they agreed to meet over at the records office at nine.