Elin’s immediately struck by Hana’s awkwardness, by her not quite being at ease inside her own body. Craning her neck, she looks past her, to see if the rest of the group are there.
“Who’s that?” Will takes the wine from her, pours himself another glass.
“The sister of the woman who fell. She saw her, on the rocks.”
He frowns. “She doesn’t look in a good way.”
“No.” Elin pauses, wary about how honest she should be. “We spoke earlier. She was obviously upset—about her sister, but she mentioned the island, too, the curse, the old school . . .”
Will shakes his head. “Christ, I don’t get it, all this banging on about the past.”
“I know.” Farrah nods. “Time to move on.”
Elin stiffens, not only at the instant dismissal, but at how instinctively Will and Farrah have formed a unit. “But I think it’s natural for people to make associations with the island’s history. Surely for some people it’s part of the reason why they come. Curiosity. It’s creepy, the Creacher murders, the curse. You can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”
“The whole point of this place was to create something new,” Will says stiffly. “To reimagine.” He gestures around at the other diners. “Seems to be working for most people.”
“Even so, you can’t just wallpaper over it.”
The smile slips from his face. He and Farrah sit there, silent. Two blank, impassive faces. Elin flushes. She’s done this before with Will’s family—ruined the convivial mood, splintered the tempo of the night mid-bar by saying something controversial. She kicks herself. She and Farrah had made progress earlier. Now she’s ruined it.
Farrah changes the topic. The conversation carries on for a while, but the dynamic is off, stilted and awkward. It’s a relief when Elin’s phone sounds a few minutes later. She tips the screen toward her. Another text from Steed.
Might be of interest: Seth Delaney has a criminal record. Dealing. Class As.
She texts back: Thx. Will ask about it tomorrow.
No action needed now, but it’s the perfect excuse. Draining her wine, she pushes back her chair, stands up. “Steed’s sent something through I’d better check on. I’ll leave you to it.”
Will nods. “See you back in the villa.”
Elin turns and quickly walks away, but not quickly enough to miss the pointed glance exchanged between him and Farrah.
30
Nursing a lukewarm tea in her hand, Hana heads out to the terrace. The sun is almost grazing the horizon, but it’s as stifling as it was a few hours before.
“Hey,” Caleb says. He’s on the edge of the pool, feet dangling in the water. Thick smears of sunscreen on his legs have seeped into the water: a thin, oily film settling on the surface. Beer bottles are scattered around him, another in his hand. He glances up at her, and his eyes are bloodshot, rimmed with red. “Sorry, I don’t know what else to do.”
“Understandable.” She puts her tea on the small table a few feet away, sits down. “You’re in shock. We all are.”
“There just seem to be so many questions still . . . why she came but didn’t tell me. I can’t wrap my head around it.” He takes a swig of beer. “This big surprise, I get it, but it wouldn’t have been for my benefit. I keep going through all the lies she must have told me to keep up the whole charade.”
Hana nods. “It’s normal to have questions when something like this happens. I did, with Liam, couldn’t stop. It gets better eventually.”
“Really?” Caleb meets her gaze. “It’s been more than a year since my dad died, and some days it’s as bad as it ever was.” As he leans back, his hand jolts the bottle. Amber liquid chugs onto the tiles, pocked with tiny bubbles.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Shrugging, he picks up the beer, puts it to his lips. “It was pretty shit, the whole thing. Unexpected. He was just starting to get his life together after a crappy few years, then gets the rug pulled from under him . . .” Caleb trails off and they both look up, hearing footsteps.
Seth’s in the doorway.
Post-swim, he’s changed. Preppier Seth: all white linen shirt and pressed blue shorts, his hair slicked back. “I’m going up to the restaurant. Want anything?”
“Not for me,” Caleb replies. “Hana?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
Seth hesitates, as if about to say something before nodding, heading back inside.