Claude blinked. A pain flared in the vicinity of her heart as he took everything she believed in and crushed it into the hot, white sand. Yes, she was sentimental and a romantic and she not only believed but had proved that there was a market for the style of resort he was so disparaging of. She just hadn’t realised he’d thought so little of the things that were important to her.
It made her feel small. Insignificant. Unvalued.
And so very sad. For her and for him. His divorce sure had made him cynical.
And it was her undoing. Her vision blurred, the emotion she’d been holding back for days coming now whether she liked it or not. A solitary tear spilled down her cheek.
Luke saw the tear threaten, then fall and wished he could cut his tongue out. He’d been angry and frustrated and his words had been harsh and ill considered. Strands of her blonde hair had loosened and blew across her face, sticking to the wet tear track and her mouth.
‘Claudia.’ He took a step towards her.
Claudia shook her head and held up a hand to ward him off, swiping at the tear with the other, angry that he was a witness to it, that she was being weak and sentimental in front of him. ‘Just go back to London, Luke.’ She turned away, marching off, needing to get away from his toxic disregard as more tears ran down her face.
Luke watched as she turned away, marching back up the beach, her spine straight, her ponytail barely bouncing as she held her head high. He cursed his insensitivity.
That went well. Not.
Avery, Jonah, Isis and Cyrus looked up from the reception desk that had been turned into a mini war room as the glass entrance door was yanked open and a red-eyed, tear-streaked Claudia stalked inside the cavernous lobby. Jonah looked at Avery with a question in his eyes as Claudia steamed straight past them.
‘Claude?’ Avery called after her, her American accent echoing around the large, deserted foyer. Claudia didn’t stop or reply.
‘Claudia.’
This time Claudia hesitated slightly before throwing an, ‘I’m fine,’ over her shoulder and, ‘I just need some time alone,’ before hitting the wide elegant staircase that would have been perfectly at home in some maharajah’s palace.
There was a worried silence as four sets of eyes watched her beat her hasty retreat to her first-floor suite.
‘What was that about?’ asked Cyrus, a young local guy employed at the Tropicana as a bellhop.
‘I don’t know,’ said Isis, his sister, who usually worked Reception.
The siblings, products of hippy parents, were uncannily similar with their striking red hair and freckles.
‘I think I do,’ Avery said, her eyes narrowing as Luke strode up the wide front steps.
Luke, his shoes and jacket in hand, glanced at the reception desk as he entered the lobby. None of the people behind it looked very receptive.
He made his way across the expanse of mosaic tiles swirling together to form a tapestry of rich sandy tones. He diverted around colossal rugs, cushy lounge chairs and potted palms. Huge beige columns rose to the two-storey ceiling and bordered the domed mural on high. It showcased a midnight sky twinkling with stars, the edges decorated with palm leaves.
As a kid it had fascinated him endlessly; now it seemed just another relic of yesteryear.
‘Luke Hargreaves,’ Avery said, her voice full of accusation as he approached the desk. ‘Did you make Claude cry?’
Luke glanced at Jonah, standing behind Avery, who was sending him run away now signals with his eyes. Jonah knew as well as Luke that Avery was Claudia’s fiercest champion.
‘I’m rather afraid I did.’ He grimaced as he approached the desk.
Much to Luke’s surprise Avery’s shoulder’s sagged and she said, ‘Oh, thank God for that. She needed a damned good cry.’
The group all nodded in agreement, even Jonah. ‘Oh, yes,’ Isis agreed. ‘She’s been saying she’s fine and dandy for days now.’
‘Fine and dandy,’ Cyrus repeated. ‘Like a cracked record.’
‘Well...’ Luke shrugged ‘...mission accomplished.’
Luke was glad that little group were more relaxed and looking less like they wanted to hang, draw and quarter him. Apparently an upset Claudia was a good thing. But it didn’t help his guilt...the things he’d said had been fairly unforgivable.
He felt about as low as a man could feel.
He remembered all too well how it’d felt to be idolised by her and he much preferred that feeling. Although he’d certainly developed feet of clay as far as she was concerned since declining the opportunity to give up his entire life in the UK—no matter how shambolic—and manage the resort with her.
He glanced up the stairs behind him, then back to the group. He had to go and apologise. ‘Think I’ll go and see how she is. Say sorry.’
Avery shook her head. ‘No. That would be bad.’
Jonah agreed. ‘You should give her some time to cool off, man.’
Cool off? As if anyone could cool off in this God-awful heat without the electricity that usually cooled the vast lobby into a blissful paradise. The frustration that had ridden him down at the beach returned for a second spin and a sudden rush of bone-wearying tiredness joined the mix.
He was jet-lagged to hell and sweating like a pig in his inappropriate clothes, but he had to fix this.
‘Why didn’t you tell me on the chopper ride she was this fragile?’ Luke demanded of Jonah.
‘She’s not fragile,’ Avery said, rising quickly to Claudia’s defence.
‘You could have fooled me,’ he snorted.
‘She’s been working day and night organising everything like a Trojan, getting things into place so when the official all-clear comes tomorrow we can start the clean-up, not to mention having to deal with the two hundred guests we were expecting over the next few weeks.’ Avery glared at him. ‘And she’s been helping out in the town and at the other resorts. She’s been strong, she’s been a leader. She is not fragile.’
‘Then why is she bursting into tears?’
Avery shook her head at him and Luke felt lower still.
‘Because she’s exhausted. Because she’s stressed and worried. She’s barely slept a wink in five days. Because her entire life just got blown all to hell and maybe, just maybe, she’d thought you might be the one man who really understood her devastation. None of us here can truly understand how this disaster in this place she loves so much has wounded her. Except you. Is that what you did, Luke? Did you go down to the beach and tell her you understood?’
Luke avoided the doubt and reprimand in Avery’s gaze as guilt rode him again. ‘I asked you how she was doing,’ he said, turning to Jonah. ‘You said she was fine.’
Jonah nodded. ‘She is fine. And dandy. Considering everything she’s worked for this last year has been flattened to a pulp. She’s been keeping busy and putting up a good front for us all. But you’re family, man. Your opinion has always mattered more than anyone else’s.’
Luke scowled, hating that Jonah was right. He had lashed out and hurt her. ‘Right,’ he said after a moment. ‘So I’d better go and fix it, then.’
Avery made a tutting sound and it