She picks up her wineglass. “Sounds ominous.”
“Not really. I wanted to show you this.” Reaching for his phone, he tilts the screen to face her. “Message from Farrah. Says she can’t meet this weekend. Busy at work.”
Farrah, Will’s older sister, works at LUMEN as a manager. Fingers always in each other’s pies—it seemed slightly odd to Elin, too close for comfort, but then that was Will’s family. Constant phone calls and texts.
“And? You’ve said before it’s been hectic this season.”
“I know, but she’s been acting odd recently. Not herself. Mum and Dad said she seemed distracted when she went around there last week. I’ve asked her about it, but you know what she’s like. Never show a weakness.”
What you’re all like, Elin mentally corrects. As a family, while they make a show of their openness—family meetings, heart-to-hearts during lunch—over time she’s learned that the openness is selective. They struggle to reveal anything that puts them at a disadvantage.
“Maybe boyfriend stuff?”
“I don’t think so.” His fingers worry his battered silver ring. “There hasn’t been anyone since Tobias.” He pauses. “I sometimes wonder if she’d confide in someone outside of the family.” He hesitates again and she knows what he’s about to say. “You never did go for that drink, did you?”
She pulls her plate back toward herself slowly, a delay tactic. “Drink?”
“Didn’t Farrah mention it the last time we saw her? You and her?”
Elin nods. She knows she should make an effort but has never quite gotten around to it. It hasn’t been an easy relationship, awkward from the get-go, their first meeting a lunch together, several weeks before she met Will’s parents.
You’ll like her, Will had said, while they waited in the café, teeing her up—she’s sporty and fun like you—but all Elin remembers is Farrah’s assessing gaze, that immediate sense that she’d found something wanting. Elin knew what it was: a message. You’re not right for my brother.
Ever since then, she and Farrah have circled each other warily. They talk a good game: lots of empty promises about meeting up, but it never materializes because she suspects neither of them actually want it to.
“I’ll message her,” she says finally. “To arrange it.”
Leaning over, he kisses her lightly on the lips. “You can stop pretending.” He smiles. “I know you’re not keen, but she’s probably more intimidated by you than the other way around. You’ve got to give people a chance. It’s the same with the reassignment. Roll with it. See how it goes.”
Elin nods, looking at him, absorbing everything: the freckles, the dirty-blond hair, the black-framed glasses that ever so slightly magnify his eyes, and she feels a surge of love.
He’s right. There’ll be hurdles as she gets back to work, but she needs to do as he says. Roll with it. See how it goes.
7
So, do you like it?” Jo gestures at the main lodge a few feet away and smiles.
Juice still in hand, Hana stops beside her, breathes in the holiday smells: pine and flowers, sunbaked earth. “It’s beautiful.” She turns, taking in the candy-pink walls, the flat roofs and glass. Everything about it is striking, but her gaze keeps being pulled to the sea.
The view is breathtaking: sparkling bands of unreal color, luminous blues and greens, framed by the cypress trees around her. The horizon beyond looks like it’s simmering in the heat: a giant pot ready to boil.
“Restaurant on your right, yoga pavilion and exercise studios on your left.”
Hana nods. It’s as she thought on the boat: the communal parts of the retreat are built across this plateau, all benefiting from the same view. It’s clever—it gives the illusion of total isolation. No land, just water: an endless stretch of blue.
“Love it.” Seth puts an arm around Jo’s shoulders. “You picked well.”
Caleb’s face is impassive. It’s impossible to tell what he makes of it—either he’s ambivalent or simply isn’t one of life’s enthusiasts.
“I think we’ll be spending most of our time here.” Seth walks right, in the direction of the restaurant, flip-flops slapping loudly on the stone. “Or more accurately, the bar.”
Hana follows, taking it all in. The indoor restaurant is flanked by a large outdoor space—a terrace and bar jutting out over the cliff, with sweeping views of the sea.