A flash of anger resurfaced.
‘Your dad’s wrong,’ Susie said firmly. ‘He only said that about how you look because he doesn’t realise you’re growing up. It’s not what the other kids will think, believe me.’ Not what Jamie would think, but she couldn’t say that.
Stella hunched into a tighter ball. ‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t care.’
Using the side of the other dinghy as a climbing frame, Stella clambered upright awkwardly. She picked up her crutches without looking at Susie. ‘Who wants to go to a stupid disco anyway?’
The hunched shoulders, resentful tone and total lack of eye contact was achingly familiar.
They were right back to where they’d been at the start of this week.
Back to square one.
Susie watched miserably as Stella moved slowly over the sand.
Something wonderful had been happening in the last few days. Something that had filled a lonely space with magic and created more joy than she had known her career could provide, but that new, hopeful space had just exploded, thanks to a human bomb. Even Garf’s head on her knee wasn’t enough to comfort her.
Susie straightened her legs, giving Garf a quick scratch under his chin as she stood up. She watched as two boys ran onto the beach, past Stella. They weren’t camp kids but Susie had seen them hanging around in the last day or two and she didn’t like the look of them at all.
‘Hey, Zach, look!’ One of them shouted. ‘It’s one of those cripples from the kiddie camp.’
‘Crip-ple!’ His mate taunted loudly. ‘Hop-along! Go back to the forest with all the other freaky frogs!’
Laughing, the teens in their designer board shorts kept loping onto the beach, oblivious to the hurt they might have caused.
Susie’s hands bunched into fists. She started moving, intending to intercept the boys and give them a piece of her mind, but from the corner of her eye she could see another group of young people arriving. These were camp kids and Jamie was leading them.
He must have heard the taunting and Stella would have to know he’d heard it, which would only have made it even more cutting. The tall, lanky body of the teenager, bronzed by so many hours in the surf, was gathering speed. Tousled, blond-streaked hair bounced. Susie could see why he was catching the attention of the girls.
And not just the girls. With a delighted woof and an apologetic glance up at Susie, Garf abandoned her to join the fun.
She watched the way Jamie bent to welcome the dog by ruffling his soft coat. Should she try and enlist the boy’s help in boosting Stella’s self-esteem? Could she do it without making it look contrived? Should she even try? Susie knew the answer to that one but desperation might have tipped the balance if her thoughts had not been interrupted by the ringtone of her mobile.
It was Charles.
‘Could you spare a few minutes to come to my office?’ he asked. ‘Alex would like to talk to you.’
‘I’m not at all sure I would like to talk to him.’ Susie was still watching Jamie. He had caught up with the strange boys and was clearly saying the kind of things Susie had been planning to say. She smiled. Stella knew how to pick them, didn’t she?
‘Susie!’ Charles’s tone had a glint of amusement. Understanding. But it was also a reprimand. Charles wouldn’t have suggested the meeting unless he thought it would benefit the people he cared about.
Like her.
And Stella.
Susie sighed. ‘I’m on my way.’
CHAPTER TWO
‘IT’s the perfect solution.’
‘I agree.’
The latest arrival in the office wasn’t looking quite so convinced.
‘Let me get this straight,’ Susie said slowly, still looking at Charles. ‘You want me to spend the weekend in the penthouse suite at the resort that was reserved for Stella and Mr Vavunis? And Mr Vavunis is going to use my cabin?’
‘Call me Alex.’
He hadn’t noticed how astonishingly blue Stella’s physiotherapist’s eyes were but, then, he hadn’t taken much notice of her physical appearance at the jetty, had he? Or was it because they were now tucked away in the neutral décor of this air-conditioned space in the new medical centre and the competition from the vast blueness of the sky and ocean had been removed?
Whatever. The expression in those eyes was not impressed and she made no acknowledgement of the invitation to use his first name. Dammit! He knew he’d been rude earlier but it could hardly be considered unprovoked and he certainly wasn’t going to jump through hoops in order to call a truce.
‘It’s the closest eco-cabin to the girls’ dormitory,’ Charles said calmly. ‘A compromise that would allow Stella to spend time with her dad but still be close to her mates.’ An eyebrow quirked. ‘It’s also the last available two-bedroomed cabin.’
‘But what about Mike and Emily?’
Alex suppressed a sigh. He had anticipated a delighted acceptance of the plan he and Charles had come up with over their beer. What woman wouldn’t want to exchange a simple hut in a forest for the ultimate in luxury? But no. Miss Jackson was going to be difficult.
Again.
He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. ‘Mike and Emily?’ he queried.
‘Mike’s one of our helicopter pilots,’ Charles supplied. ‘Also a paramedic. Emily’s an anaesthetist at our base hospital.’
‘My best friend,’ Susie put in.
‘And?’ Alex couldn’t see the relevance but he couldn’t miss the note in Susie’s voice that spoke of fierce loyalty to the people she called friends. He could approve of that.
‘And they’re coming over for tomorrow’s opening,’ Susie continued. ‘They’re going to be sharing my cabin.’
‘Already sorted,’ Charles told her. ‘Don’t worry.’
Even, white teeth appeared as Susie chewed her bottom lip. ‘But the resort’s right down at the south end of the island. It’s a long way from the kids’ camp.’
‘Precisely,’ Alex said with satisfaction. If Stella was determined to stay at the camp, it would effectively put him on a different planet, wouldn’t it? Perhaps he was already as far as his daughter was concerned. What the hell had happened on this camp so far?
‘It’s not as far as the mainland,’ Charles reminded Susie. ‘And you’ve been trekking back and forth all week. How about I organise a cart for your personal use?’
Susie flashed him a grin. ‘A bicycle would do.’
Alex let out his breath. ‘Thank you very much, Miss Jackson. I appreciate your cooperation.’
The corner of her mouth twitched but it wasn’t a real smile. Not like the one she’d given Charles. It was more like a subtle putdown of his formality.
‘Call me Susie.’
‘I will.’ He could go even further in cementing this new accord. He could offer a new beginning. Alex stood up and extended his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Susie.’
She followed suit, standing as she put her hand into his, but the response was tentative. As though this formality was also out of place. Her hand was warm. And soft. The grip was surprisingly firm.
Why