Chapter Twenty-Three #2
In their suite later, they lay languorously satiated in bed, their bodies slick with sweat and their hearts still pounding in their chests. A half-empty bottle of champagne stood in an ice bucket on the bedside table along with two empty glasses.
‘I’ve always been partial to sex in classy hotels,’ Cassie murmured, playing her fingers over Ben’s chest, ‘can we stay here forever, please?’
He turned his head to look at her. ‘I’m not sure I’d have the stamina,’ he said, smiling. ‘You’ll have reduced me to a dried husk of a man within weeks. Not that I’m complaining, but we’ve certainly upped the ante since arriving here.’
‘It must be the sea air,’ she said contentedly, still luxuriating in the lightheaded afterglow of the climax Ben had so expertly brought her to. ‘That and the privacy.’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘having guests around at home isn’t entirely conducive to an afternoon given over to champagne and sexual pleasure, is it?’
When she didn’t say anything, he said, ‘It won’t be for much longer, Rosalyn will soon find a place of her own and then everything will go back to normal.’
‘Will it?’ she said doubtfully. ‘I’m not so sure.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t think Emily is going to let things go back to normal,’ Cassie said. ‘She wants Rosalyn and Finlay in her life, maybe ours too; she wants them to be her family. Our family.’
‘Finlay is her half-brother,’ Ben said after a pause, ‘so it’s understandable. But equally she’s on a crusade right now.’
‘What an odd thing to say.’
‘But it’s true; this is the first time in her life she’s had a real cause to fight for. Her generation love that.’
‘Don’t let her catch you talking about her that way, she’ll have you up on a charge of gross patronising condescension.’
‘Very true,’ he said with a laugh. ‘But don’t forget, putting her energy into helping Rosalyn and Finlay is part of her grieving process.’
‘But what then? When Rosalyn is building a new life for herself and no longer needs Emily in the way she does now, what will she do then?’
‘She might go back to university. Or find she has a taste for help-ing others by sorting out their lives. She seems pretty good at it.’
‘Dear God, you make her sound like Mary Poppins meets Mother Teresa!’
‘Admit it, you’re proud of her. If Rosalyn was any other woman and not Drew’s widowed wife, you’d be banging the drum for that girl.’
Cassie sighed. ‘You’re right. Is it wrong that I can’t quite bring myself to be the bigger person towards Rosalyn? You can do it, but—’
‘But I’m not burdened with a ton of top-quality Louis Vuitton baggage like you are.’
‘Don’t mock me.’
‘I’m not, but stop giving yourself such a hard time. You’re doing a great thing helping Rosalyn. How many ex-wives would do what you have?’
‘But my heart isn’t in it, and you know as well as I do, I’m doing it under sufferance to please Emily.’
‘That’s as good a reason as any, and for what it’s worth, I’m bloody proud of you and I couldn’t love you more.’
‘If only you were a little less perfect,’ she said with a smile, putting a hand to his face and kissing him. But at the same time and for no real reason she could think of, a humorous one-liner she’d once heard popped into her mind, that no good deed went unpunished.
They’d booked to have dinner in the Grand Ballroom that evening and were suitably attired, Ben in a black velvet dinner jacket and bow tie and Cassie in a full-length dress of embroidered ivory-coloured organza, which had been yet an-other birthday surprise from Ben, along with a little help from her sister.
Their cocktails finished while selecting what they were going to eat and chatting with a fun couple from Sydney who were on a walking tour, they were now being shown to their table in the ballroom where a jazz band was playing.
‘I could definitely get used to this,’ Cassie said when they were seated, and after Martine, their favourite waitress who had looked after them every evening, had poured their wine.
‘Me too,’ Ben said when they were alone.
Reaching for Ben’s hand across the table, Cassie said, ‘Thank you for arranging this, it’s been the best birthday.’
His fingers entwined through hers, he said, ‘I’m glad. I wanted everything to be perfect for you.’
‘You’ve achieved that with bells on. It’s been a blissful few days.’
‘Well, it’s not over yet, I still have another surprise up my sleeve for you.’
‘But you’ve given me so much already.’
He grinned. ‘One more surprise won’t hurt though, will it?’
‘Is it a birthday cake? Have you asked the chef to make me a cake?’
He tutted and rolled his eyes. ‘You had to go and spoil it, didn’t you?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said at the crestfallen expression on his handsome face.
‘Just be sure to act like it’s a total surprise,’ he said.
As the evening progressed, and between courses, their fellow diners took to the dancefloor.
‘Shall we risk a shuffle?’ asked Ben when they’d finished their main course of sea bass.
‘I think we should,’ said Cassie, ‘as we’re never going to have a more romantic moment than this.’
‘Exactly what I was thinking.’
On their feet, Cassie slipped a hand through one of Ben’s and a little self-consciously, they joined the other couples who were gracefully gliding around like Strictly pros.
‘I hope we’re not disgracing ourselves too much,’ she whispered as they navigated their way around the other couples.
‘We’re doing just fine,’ he murmured, ‘and you look sensational in that dress. Did I say that earlier?’
‘You did. Several times.’
‘Well, I’m saying it again. You’re easily the most beautiful woman here.’
‘And you, my darling, are the sexiest man here. You look even more like James Bond in your dinner jacket. You should wear it more often.’
‘I will, but only if you promise to help me out of it later.’
‘It’s a deal.’
They were both laughing when the music came to an end, and everyone began drifting back to their tables.
Ben surprised her by saying, ‘Let’s go outside for a minute. It’s our last night here and I want to make the most of it.’
She followed him out to the terrace. Her eyes adjusting to the darkness, she held his hand firmly to ensure she didn’t topple over in her impractically high-heeled sandals.
He led the way up the sloping path that led around the island.
It was the clearest of nights and the velvety black sky was peppered with stars.
The moon was a sharp thin crescent and not large enough to provide any tangible light.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, puzzled that Ben seemed intent on walking some distance away from the hotel, which was brilliantly lit up against the night sky. ‘Hey, this isn’t some ruse of yours to tip me off the cliff edge and claim the life insurance, is it?’
He didn’t say anything but then coming to a stop, he looked about him as if taking in the starlit view.
She did the same while listening to the rhythmic swishing of the sea below and the rumble of the sea tractor making its way across the causeway, perhaps performing its last duty of the day.
Next to her, and letting go of her hand, Ben suddenly bent down as if to tie a shoelace.
She waited for him to straighten up, but he didn’t and then from nowhere he’d produced a small box and was holding it towards her.
‘Cassie,’ he said, lifting the lid of the box and revealing a beautiful diamond ring, ‘will you marry me? I know you’ve said in the past that marriage wasn’t important to you, but I find it matters to me.
I want to be your husband. I want it more than anything in the world.
’ In the silence that followed, he said, ‘Say something, please.’
She stared at the ring. She stared at him.
‘I can’t … I—’
‘Is it a terrible idea to you?’
She shook her head. ‘No! It’s a wonderful idea, but—’
‘But what?’
She dropped down to her knees to be on the same level as him, but not before lifting the front of her dress to save it from being ruined with grass stains. ‘But are you sure? Are you really sure about us? About me?’
‘Oh God yes, I’m absolutely sure!’
‘In that case, yes. Yes, I will marry you!’
Smiling, he removed the ring from the box and with shaking hands slipped it onto her finger.
‘I’ll never forget this moment,’ she said, kissing him. ‘I love you so much, Ben.’
Then with a mischievous grin, remembering how he’d fooled her earlier, she said, ‘Does this mean there’s no surprise birthday cake made by the chef?’
Laughing, he helped her to her feet, held her hand and led her back down the pathway.
To her amazement, when they re-entered the dining room, she saw that not only was there a bottle of champagne on their table but a beautiful birthday cake, and as if they’d been in on the surprise, the other diners started clapping and the jazz band struck up with a jaunty rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ and everyone sang along.
‘I can’t believe you did all of this for me,’ Cassie said to Ben, tears of happiness filling her eyes, ‘and in secret. Thank you so much.’
‘I told you before, I wanted your birthday to be special for you. Something you’d always remember.’