Second Tomorrow Read Free Page A

makes two of us. I’ve never met a woman like you.’ He paused as if giving her the chance to speak. ‘Do you really intend to remain sunk in misery for the rest of your life?’
    She frowned in puzzlement. ‘I’ve said you baffle me. I can’t understand your concern.’
    A strange silence ensued before Luke spoke, and when he did speak there was the most odd inflection in his voice.
    ‘It could be that I don’t understand it myself. Let’s change the subject, shall we?’ He glanced at her empty coffee cup. ‘Better still, let us take a stroll. It’s becoming far too hot in here.’
    Clare hesitated; the last thing she wanted was to walk outside with him, in the lovely tropical gardens, with the bright stars above and the moon turning the wavelets to silver along the pink-sanded beach. But on the other hand, shehad to remember that Luke was her brother’s friend and, therefore, she must make some attempt to appear friendly.
    ‘Why the hesitation?’ challenged Luke with a touch of irony in his voice. ‘Would you prefer to be alone, so that you can brood?’
    Her mouth went tight. The insufferable man would rile her to the point of no return if he went on like this. It was with considerable difficulty that she managed to keep the anger from her tone as she said, ‘Of course not. I shall enjoy a stroll in the fresh air.’
    Faintly he smiled, as if fully aware that she was lying.
    The cooling breeze of the trade winds fanned her face as, after walking along the pergola-shaded terrace in front of the lounge, they came into the gardens proper. Sounds drifted to her over the soft balmy air—the murmur of the waves breaking against the coral reef, the tender Bahamian music from the restaurant, the whisper of night creatures in the stately royal palms and the ‘pity-pit-pit’ call of a nighthawk as it swirled down from some unseen place high in the air. The beach was deserted, serene and unspoiled as it was hundreds of years ago, before man ever set foot on its virgin sand.
    ‘It’s a beautiful evening.’ Clare spoke to break the silence which seemed to be becoming too companionable for her liking. She did not want to feel at ease with Luke; on the contrary, she desired only that they should both keep their distance from one another, being polite andnothing more. But somehow the situation was becoming out of control, with Luke acting as if he had the right to criticise and admonish, and to advise her to remain on the island. She thought about his comments and decided that she ought to remain, if only to give her parents a little peace of mind, something they certainly had not had for the past five years, knowing that, every Saturday, no matter what the weather, she would meet her dead fiancé’s mother in the grim environment of the cemetery. Was it morbid to want to go there? Her father had said so, and now Luke had said it was morbid to dwell on the past. Neither of them understood, she told herself. Being men, they had no deep emotional feelings about such things as memories that were more precious than anything else in the world.
    ‘Are you enjoying the stroll?’ inquired Luke after agreeing with her that it was a beautiful evening. They were on the hotel’s private beach, where tall coconut palms extended as far as the eye could see, and intriguing little lanes meandered in their midst before disappearing into the wooded grounds of the hotel.
    ‘Yes,’ answered Clare, ‘I’m enjoying it very much.’ She spoke the truth but wished she could have told herself she was lying.
    ‘Shall we carry on? I have a feeling that Phil is not going to be able to leave his duties for a while.’
    She nodded and said yes, she would like to go a little farther. As her gaze went out towards thehorizon she was recalling her impression as she flew over from Nassau in the small aeroplane. The numerous islands and cays were strung out over a cerulean blue sea, jewels glistening in the sunlight. In the shallows beyond the