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The more she reflected on this, the more she wondered about Doña Anna’s intentions when she drew up her will Was this one last atteless life? Or was that Rosie being roain? In her view, all the money in the world couldn’t buy the love and support of a family, and, if Don Xavier had only known it, Doña Anna had been waiting to welcome him back into her family home with open arms

Brushing her hair away from her face, Rosie pulled away froered on the flowers she’d cut fresh frohtly scented The full, fat blooms thrived in clusters, just like the best fay Not that she was an expert on either families or roses The reason she loved the roses was for the way they thrust their scented heads so proudly above the weeds she hadn’t got round to pulling out yet There were so

Isla Del Rey had bewitched Rosie from the moment she’d stepped onshore She had been instantly dazzled by the island’s beauty It was so ware where she’d grown up There were sugar-sand beaches and vibrant colours everywhere, instead of unrelieved grey And so rie On the island, for the very first time in her life, she’d felt free Best of all, she loved the people for the way they smiled and waved at her, as if they wanted to welcome her to their beautiful island home Their cause had been her cause ever since

Perhaps the biggest treat of all when she’d arrived had been the discovery that she would have a rooht and spacious, Rosie’s new bedroom overlooked the ocean, which was like a dream come true Another favourite place in the hacienda was the library, where Doña Anna had encouraged Rosie to read any book she liked That hen Rosie had suggested reading to the old lady Froether, and, even if those adventures were confined to the pages of a book, Rosie credited storytelling with bringing them closer

The varying tales had prompted Doña Anna to reveal so many episodes from her life Rosie’s experience of love and life had been practically zero up to then, but reading to Doña Anna had awoken in her a love for fa about in books Love greeen the two of theular sessions in the library Itfor children of her own, so she could tell them about Doña Anna, and keep the memory of a very special woman alive Her dream was that her children would pass on that memory to their children, so they would understand how lives could be turned around if just one person cared enough to make a difference

When Doña Anna asked Rosie to stay on, inally supposed to be a temporary position as housekeeper/companion permanent, it was the happiest day of her life And the easiest decision she’d ever had to ure she’d never known She loved the old lady for her prickly kindness, and for her generous heart

She would always love her, Rosie reflected as she glanced at her atch and frowned for the umpteenth time

He gl

anced at the clock and ground his jaw He had never been so i to get back to the island

And whose fault was that?

A pale, deter red hair, ca he needed was for the basest form of primal instinct to colour his renowned detachment

And then there was Isla Del Rey, and his conflicting memories of the island, to further muddy the water While ideas were batted between his teaht back As a youth he had loathed the island for its restrictions As a boy, he had associated the place with loneliness and disappointment, which was only made bearable thanks to the intervention of his aunt

In fairness to his parents, they had never professed to love hi him that he was both an accident and an inconvenience Hope that they would one day learn to love hi time to die He’d coht of seeing theain, only to find them ready to leave as he arrived Or they would promise to come and not turn up at all

One day hishe touched turned to dust She’d been a beauty before he was born, loved by his father and feted by the world, but now, thanks to her son, Xavier, she was nothing He had destroyed her And when his seven-year-old self had begged her not to say such things, clinging to her hand as she left the roohed in his face when he’d started crying No wonder he’d steered clear of rolements He’d seen where they led

Doña Anna had stepped into the breach, raising hi him to make the best of the island—to swim around it, and to sail around it—and he’d enjoyed his first love affair on the beach But though his aunt had told him on numerous occasions that his s of a troubled wo in his head He wasn’t capable of love He was a jinx, a misfortune He destroyed love—