Shackled by Diamonds

Anna stared. ‘Surf? In the Caribbean? It’s flat as a millpond!’

Leo laughed. ‘Not on the Atlantic coast, it isn’t.’

Nor was it. To Anna’s astonishment the wide, sandy beach that Leo drove to after they’d finished lunch curled with breakers rolling in from the east. He parked the car by a small café-bar just on the sand, and Anna slipped into the restrooms to change into one of the two new swimsuits she’d bought that morning. Leo, it seemed, had his trunks on underneath his trousers anyway. As she emerged, she saw him standing on the sand, stripped to the waist, a pair of colourful boogie boards under his arm, newly purchased from a beach vendor.

‘Surf’s up!’ he told Anna, grinning, and handed her a board. Then, turning on his heel, he ran with a limping gait into the water and plunged over a breaking wave. With a sudden, inexplicable burst of exuberance, Anna ran after him and did likewise.

Foaming water burst over her head—cold for a second, and then warm. She gave a shout, and found herself grinning back at Leo, hair slicked back, torso glittering with diamonds.

‘Watch out!’ he called, as another wave curled towards them. ‘Turn around, board to your midriff—wait, wait… Now!’ Leo launched forward, catching the wave and creaming in towards the shore, weaving his route between the other surfers and swimmers.

Anna was less lucky, and missed the wave. But she caught the next one, and the exhilaration of being powered effortlessly into shore was intoxicating. The moment she grounded she was up on her feet, ploughing back out to sea to repeat the process, over and over again. Beside her, Leo set the pace relentlessly, exchanging grins with her as the water’s power swept them inshore time after time.

Finally, after what seemed like a million waves, Anna beached herself in the shallows, lying on her board, dragging in the ebbing surf. Leo came and flopped beside her.

‘I’m done in!’ she gasped.

Leo jack-knifed to his feet lithely and held a hand down to her.

‘Time for a cool drink,’ he said.

Anna took his hand without thinking, letting his strong fingers curl around hers, and got to her feet. He went on holding her hand as they waded ashore, boogie boards under their arms. The sun was hot on their wet skin, the sea dazzling. Gaining the shade of the wooden café-bar was blissful, and Anna flopped down at a table.

‘Enjoy it?’ asked Leo, flopping likewise.

Anna grinned. ‘It was fantastic!’

For a moment their eyes held, with nothing in them except mutual good humour. Then one of the waiting staff undulated over to them, with the characteristically graceful islander gait, and asked what they would like.

‘Long, cool, and a lot of fruit juice, please.’ Anna smiled at her.

‘Twice.’ Leo nodded. The woman smiled, and undulated back to the bar, sandals flapping lazily on the ground.

Anna’s eyes went after her.

‘They walk so gracefully, the islanders. Even when they are no longer young or slim. It’s very striking. I can’t work out how they do it.’

Leo leant back.

‘It’s because they never hurry,’ he answered. ‘It’s too hot to hurry. So everyone relaxes.’

Anna gave a crooked smile. ‘Wise people,’ she commented. ‘They know what’s important in life.’

“‘Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers”,’ Leo heard himself murmur, repeating the line of poetry that had come to him when he had been out on the villa’s terrace that first night.

Anna’s quizzical glance rested on him.

‘Somehow that sentiment doesn’t go with the hotshot business tycoon,’ she said dryly.

Leo’s eyelashes swept down. ‘Is that how you see me? A hotshot business tycoon?’

‘It’s how you see yourself,’ she riposted.

She expected to see his expression bristle, but instead there was a strange look in his eye.

‘It’s what was expected of me,’ he said slowly. His dark eyes rested on her. ‘You escaped your background, Anna. I didn’t.’

She frowned, confused. ‘Why would you want to—given your background?’

‘I grew up with a lot of physical riches—but not much else.’

A snort escaped her. ‘Poor little rich boy?’

‘How close were you to your grandmother?’ he asked, ignoring her sceptical comment.

She looked away a moment. ‘Very. She was all I had. My mother died when I was five, and as for my father—well, even the child maintenance people couldn’t find him. So it was just Gran and me. Which is a lot more than some kids get in life, so I’m not ungrateful, believe me. But sometimes it was…’ She paused.