Jessica Hart - Barefoot Bride

It was very different from her own world of work where status symbols were so important, and how you looked and talked sometimes mattered more than what you actually did. Alice couldn’t help comparing Will with Tony, who was always so careful of his appearance and so competitive. Tony would talk himself up in meetings, never missing an opportunity to tell everyone how dynamic and successful he was, and even at home he hadn’t been able to wait to tell Alice how well he had performed in a meeting or how much better his results had been than any of his colleagues.

Alice’s own drive was less for success in itself than for the security it brought, but she sensed that the team had some reservations about her, and she supposed she did look a bit out of place in her narrow skirt, sleeveless top and high peep-toe shoes with their pretty candy stripes. Alice told herself that she didn’t care what they thought of her, and threw herself into the challenge of taking what she had learnt and making it fun and accessible for children.

Will found her a desk, and she and Lily spent the rest of the day happily playing around with ideas and thinking up simple questions that a child like Lily could answer by looking at the various display boards that were being prepared. Will disappeared out to the reef, and Alice found it easier to settle once he had gone. She chatted to the two locally employed secretaries, who adored Will, and were obviously longing to know more about his relationship with Alice but were too polite to ask outright.

‘I’m just helping out with Lily until the new nanny arrives,’ she told them, since there didn’t seem any reason to keep it a big secret. ‘I’m going home soon.’

Perhaps, if she said it enough, it would start to seem real.

She liked the atmosphere in the office. It made her realise how much she missed having to think and be part of a team, a train of thought Alice was keen to encourage in herself. Because missing that meant that she was missing work, which meant, obviously, that she was looking forward to going back to London and applying for what she was determined would be the job of her dreams.

Together with Lily, she came up with a competition and a treasure hunt, and begged the use of a computer to draft fun forms for the children to fill in. Then she rang Roger and cajoled him into sponsoring prizes for everyone who took part, as she was pretty sure Will wouldn’t approve of using his precious budget to finance frivolities.

‘It’ll be good PR for your company,’ she told him.

‘A bunch of children in fishing villages aren’t exactly our target market,’ said Roger, but he was happy to humour her, and the cost was negligible for a company like his in any case.

It wasn’t long before Alice was coming up with other ideas. She told Will about Roger’s offer as they drove home at the end of the day. ‘Why don’t you make this an opportunity to get more sponsorship?’

‘I haven’t got time for schmoozing,’ said Will, changing gear irritably. He was tense after a day spent trying to ignore Alice’s warm, vibrant presence in the office. It had been bad enough trying to concentrate on work before, when his senses had still been reeling with memories of the night before, but today had been virtually impossible. Wherever he looked, there she was, sitting on the edge of the desk, swinging those ridiculous shoes, chatting to the secretaries, bending over pieces of paper with Lily, their faces intent, studying the display boards…

Her questions had been intelligent, and she had made some acute observations, which shouldn’t have surprised him. Nobody could ever have accused Alice of being stupid, and he could see that, although the team had been wary of her initially, they had all been impressed by her ideas in the end. She had flair, Will had to admit. It was hard to put his finger on it, but there was a certain stylishness about everything she did, and there was no doubt that she had already made a huge contribution to the plans for the open day.

So he ought to be feeling pleased with her, not edgy and cross. Grateful as he was for her ideas, he wished that she had stayed at home. Now, when she had gone, he wouldn’t even be able to go to the office without memories of her waiting to ambush him.

‘You wouldn’t need to spend any extra time,’ said Alice, taking out her clip and wedging it between her teeth as she shook out her hair. ‘You’re having the open day anyway,’ she pointed out, rather muffled through the clip. ‘Why not invite businesses along at the same time and show them what you’re doing?’

Twisting her hair back up with one hand, she took the clip from her teeth and deftly secured it into place. ‘You’re the one who said how important the protection of the reef is to the economy. That makes it of interest to companies who operate here, local and international, and I’m sure lots of them would be interested in sponsoring you. Jumping on the environmental awareness bandwagon makes good PR for them.’

‘The point of the open day is to keep government support and to involve the local communities,’ Will grumbled. ‘You’re wanting to turn it into a jamboree.’

‘Nonsense,’ said Alice briskly. ‘All you need to do is lay on a few more drinks, and it’ll be worth it if you get some extra money for the project, won’t it? Besides,’ she said, turning to wink at Lily in the back seat, ‘if we make it a party, it’ll be a chance for Lily and I to dress up.’

Lily brightened. ‘Can I wear my pink shoes?’

‘You can,’ said Alice. ‘And I’ll wear my shoes with the bows. What do you think?’ she asked, ignoring Will’s snort.

‘I like them.’

‘I’m so glad we’ve got the footwear sorted out,’ said Will sarcastically as they turned into their road. ‘Now there’s nothing else to worry about!’

Although, as it turned out, there was.

An email from the agency in London was waiting for him when he went into the office the next day. Will sat at his desk and stared at the screen. They had found an excellent candidate, the email informed him. An experienced nanny, mature and sensible, Helen would be able to fly out to St Bonaventure as soon as required. Would he please read the attached CV and their comments on Helen’s interview and let them know as soon as possible if he wished to offer her the post.

Will lifted his eyes from the screen. Through the glass wall of his office he could see Alice on the phone. She had taken responsibility for the refreshments, and her face was animated as she talked, one hand holding the phone to her ear, the other gesticulating as if the person on the other end could see her.

When she had gone, he wouldn’t be able to look at that phone without imagining her as she was now. He wouldn’t be able to sit on the verandah in the evening without feeling her beside him, talking, stretching, waving her arms around, laughing, arguing, her face vivid in the darkness. He wouldn’t be able to lie in bed without remembering her kisses, her softness and her warmth, the silken fire of her.

When she had gone, there would be an aching, empty void wherever she had been.

‘I need to talk to you,’ he said to her that night after they had put Lily to bed.

‘That sounds serious,’ said Alice lightly. ‘Had we better sit down?’

So they sat in their accustomed places on the verandah, and Will tried to marshal the churning thoughts that had been occupying him all day. He hadn’t been able to talk to her at the office, and he didn’t want to say anything in front of Lily. He’d thought he’d decided what he was going to say, but now that he was here his careful arguments seemed to have vanished.

‘What is it?’ asked Alice after a while.

‘I had an email today from the agency in London. They’ve found a nanny who sounds very suitable and she can come out next week if I want.’