Wildflower Bay (20 page)

Lily tutted good-naturedly. ‘It’s much more meaningful than that, Finn. But I’m delighted you’ll be joining us. As is Melody.’ She indicated a large lump of crystal
that sat on a shelf.

‘Oh yes, I see what you mean,’ he agreed. Isla’s nostrils flared in amusement.

‘I knew you’d understand,’ said Lily, in a pleased tone of voice. She was apparently completely impervious to sarcasm. ‘Now, I’ll just go and gather the others and
we can begin.’

Isla looked at him as Lily swept off into the gardens. ‘Are you insane?’

‘Apparently. And I’m not alone. Surely you’ve got better things to do on a Sunday afternoon than this?’

Isla pulled a face. ‘Not really. I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to Edinburgh for the first few weeks because I thought it’d make the time pass more quickly.’

He’d forgotten she was only here briefly.

Isla stood awkwardly at the edge of the circle. They had gathered on the grass, barefoot, as instructed by Lily, the sun glinting on the water of the loch in front of them.
Isla couldn’t have felt more self-conscious if she tried. Finn, barely disguising his amusement, stood opposite, a wooden totem in his hand.

‘Everyone, gather.’ Lily’s tone was reverent. ‘Come closer.’ The group all shuffled forward.

Lily brandished her wooden phallus above her head, closing her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath inwards, exhaling through pouting lips. Isla caught Finn’s eye for a moment, and
his eyebrows flickered upwards in a silent expression of amusement.

‘The Palad Khik is a phallic representation of Shiva.’ Lily lowered the wooden carving, nestling it in her hands in a slightly alarming manner. Isla, realizing she wasn’t
taking this seriously enough, bit the inside of her cheek in the same way she’d done earlier when the giggles threatened.

‘It’s an amulet – a symbol redolent of fertility and positivity. And it’s the totem for this retreat. We are blessed with two residents of the island here with us today,
which adds an element of grounding and a sense of place.’ Lily looked from Finn to Isla. The others smiled at them welcomingly. Isla, resident on the island for a whole three weeks, tried to
look appropriately at one with her environment.

‘Now, for the first part of today, we are going to start with an expansive opening. We are holding space for both womanhood and manhood – yin and yang. This is a ritual for our
evolution and for the soul growth, a chance for our true potentiality to come forward. An opportunity for learning and expansive power and . . .’ Lily paused to draw breath. If it
hadn’t been such a long way back to her car, Isla would have contemplated making a run for it. But it was a good mile away down the track, and she suspected that if she did try and leg it,
Lily would suggest she needed some additional deep therapy to explore her issues with abandonment, or something. So she stood still and waited.

‘Neil, Claire, if you can just lie down where you are, we can begin the process. We are starting with a circle.’

Both Neil and Claire lay down obediently, side by side.

‘Now, if you can just shift yourself around, like this,’ Lily took hold of their heads and tugged them into position, ‘and if the rest of you can join us, we are going to begin
with a crown chakra connection.’

Finn slid a look at Isla. ‘What the . . .?’ he mouthed, silently.

‘I don’t know.’

Somehow Isla found herself lying on the grass, her head touching Claire’s on one side and with Finn close by on the other.

‘Lovely.’ Lily leaned down. Isla caught a whiff of lavender oil from her long skirts. The multitude of bracelets on both her wrists jangled gently. Lying so close to Finn, Isla felt
acutely aware of his presence, as if there was a magnetic charge from the earth drawing them together.

Lily adjusted them: ‘A little bit closer, like this –’ and in that second, Finn’s head was touching Isla’s, and the circle was complete. Isla felt a jolt of
something quite unexpected shoot through her. It was a long time since she’d been this close to any man. Isla lay completely still, barely breathing, hyper-aware of every movement her body
made.

Lily instructed them to close their eyes. The air filled with an eerie, low-pitched humming noise, which became lower and deeper, taking up the space around them until it seemed to resonate
within Isla, deep inside her body. She drifted away, time and space lost in the sound.

A gentle touch on her arm woke her. God – had she fallen asleep on the grass? She opened her eyes and sat up with a start, gasping in surprise.

‘Shhh.’ Lily motioned, open-palmed, to the rest of the group. They were all still lying, eyes closed. ‘Take your time.’ Isla curled herself into a cross-legged position,
kidding herself that she was looking with equal interest at everyone in the group. But she found herself drawn to Finn’s face, long eyelashes sweeping down onto his dark tanned skin, his
cheeks shadowed by fair stubble. He had a look of the Viking about him, she realized – the island ancestry showing. As Lily laid a gentle hand on his chest, he was the last in the circle to
wake. He opened sleepy blue eyes, looking up at Isla with surprise before sitting up, running a hand through his dark blond hair.

‘God. Did I fall asleep?’

‘That’s exactly what I thought,’ Isla smiled at him. ‘No, your secret’s safe with me.’

‘I must’ve been knackered.’

The rest of the group were yawning and stretching their arms wide. Despite her quirky manner, Lily clearly knew her stuff. Everyone seemed far more relaxed and the group were all smiling at one
another as if they’d shared something far more hypnotic than a meditation circle.

‘The singing bowl has therapeutic benefits for everyone.’ Lily held out a heavy metal pot. ‘And now that we are relaxed, the next thing we need to do is get everyone into
pairs. Sandy and Phillip, I would like to see you two working together. Claire and Stewart, Paul and Ann-Marie, if you could all come with me, I’ll settle you into your working
space.’

Everyone stood up and followed Lily obediently to their positions.

‘What are we doing now?’ Finn looked across the unkempt lawn. Another couple had been placed on the water’s edge and were sitting, facing each other, cross-legged.

‘I have no idea.’ Isla put a palm down flat on the soft, new grass. She looked down as a tiny black-and-yellow ladybird made its way across the back of her hand. She could have quite
easily made her excuses and left now, but – well, she was surprisingly keen to see what came next, and if she was honest with herself she was enjoying being in Finn’s company, despite
the dire warnings she’d had from Shannon and Jinny about his reputation as the island Lothario. He seemed surprisingly down-to-earth – but then, Isla realized, it was more than likely
that he didn’t find her remotely attractive, so that wasn’t really much of a shock.

Finn didn’t seem to be in any rush to get away, either.

‘Here we are. Now, you two are perfect just as you are. Finn, if you can just turn yourself around so you are facing Isla directly, and we can begin.’ Finn swung round on the grass
so he too was sitting cross-legged across from Isla.

‘A little closer. I need you in contact for this one.’

‘Sorry.’ Finn’s knee brushed Isla’s, and she felt her cheeks flushing.

‘It’s fine.’ Her heart was hammering against her chest now. This was a bit more than she’d expected. He was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body
touching hers.

‘Now this is very simple. As you are all first-time participants, we aren’t going to do the whole eleven minutes. We will simply begin with seven.’

Seven minutes of meditation was more than Isla had ever managed in the past, and seven minutes of meditation whilst knee-to-knee with a surprisingly handsome man – even one who
wasn’t remotely interested in her – was going to be a bit of a challenge, but Isla nodded politely. She closed her eyes in preparation.

‘Oh no, we need your eyes open for this one. This is the gazing exercise.’

Finn widened his eyes at Isla in horrified amusement. ‘What are we gazing at?’

‘Each other,’ said Lily, simply. She looked around, assuring herself that everyone was in place. ‘When the ting-sha bells ring, we begin. And I will ring them again to signify
the end of the session.’

‘Is it too late to make a run for the pub?’ Finn hissed at Isla. He clearly felt as uncomfortable as she did.

‘What’s a ting-sha?’ she hissed back, just as the unmistakable sound of the bells chimed out clearly in the silence of the afternoon sunlight.

How hard can this be?
Isla thought.
All I have to do is look into his eyes for seven minutes
. Finn’s eyes were blue, with a hazel-brown ring around the
circumference. At the corners were laughter lines that suggested someone who didn’t take life – or himself – too seriously. His eyebrows were dark, and framed his face well
– not overgrown, not bushy – Isla saw male clients come in all the time looking for a haircut and only as they prepared to leave, their session at a close, would they say, almost in
passing, ‘you couldn’t do something about . . .’ and they’d wave to a monobrow, or Denis Healey eyebrows that were threatening to take over the whole of their face, and . .
.

She shifted in her seat. It didn’t matter how she tried to keep herself busy with stream-of-consciousness chatter in her head: the truth was that having Finn gazing directly into her eyes
was stopping her brain from working properly. It also seemed to stop her looking into his eyes. It was like a game. If he was focusing on her, she couldn’t seem to focus back, and when that
happened she felt strangely vulnerable. It was also strangely hard to look into both eyes at the same time. She dropped her gaze for a second, looking back at him, taking the advantage. It
wasn’t supposed to be combat, she remembered. His pupils relaxed and dilated. Her heart was thumping so loudly in her chest that she was certain he could hear it. Uncomfortable, she looked
away. When she looked up again he was still there, looking steadily into her eyes. Time seemed to have stopped. They’d been there for hours. She felt for a moment like she was going to cry,
and in the same moment she saw something – a look of sadness within the depths of Finn’s blue eyes – and suddenly, inexplicably, Isla found herself wanting to reach out and hold
his hand. He shifted his gaze for a second, looking down before raising his eyes to meet hers again, the tiniest sparkle of amusement there now. He was challenging her, a tiny flicker of the
eyebrow suggesting she wouldn’t make it.
You’ll see
, Isla thought, raising her chin in defiance. She looked at him, feeling the corners of her mouth twitching in amusement.

The bells rang out.

They sprang apart, both sitting back slightly. Isla closed her eyes for a second.

‘Well . . . that was intense.’ Finn shifted his weight back onto his arms, arching his back in a stretch.

‘And hug your partner,’ Lily’s voice sang out.

Finn reached across, almost hesitantly. It was strange, but it somehow made sense – Isla leaned into him, feeling his arms wrap around her for a fleeting moment, the heat of his skin
beneath his T-shirt. His heart was thumping, too. She pulled back.

‘How did you find that?’ Lily bent down beside them, taking their hands and holding them for a few moments. This was all getting a bit too close for comfort. ‘No need to talk.
No need.’ She smiled at them peacefully. ‘My guides tell me you’re harbouring a long-held hurt, Finn, my darling. Release it, and you can move on to achieve your full
potential.’

Finn cleared his throat uncomfortably, making a vague noise of agreement. He folded his arms across his chest in a subconscious gesture, one so obvious that even Isla picked up on it. Lily
raised a silent, but slightly admonishing eyebrow.

‘And Isla. Sweet Isla.’ Lily gave her hand a little shake as she held it, as if to loosen her up. ‘You have so much to offer. You must open your heart.’

With that, Lily stood up, and made her way down the field to the next couple.

‘I’m sure she was meant to give us a chance to tell her how it went.’ Finn grinned at Isla. ‘That was freaky. D’you reckon we can make our escape yet? I don’t
know about you but I could murder a pint of something non-herbal and definitely not organic.’

As if she – or her spirit guides – read his mind, Lily suddenly called out cheerfully, ‘Come on, everyone, let’s go up to the house for some delicious
refreshment.’

‘
Grrrrargggh!
’

Isla jumped sideways just in time as Lucien, the demon child, hurtled towards her, brandishing a huge wooden – was that a
penis
? He disappeared into the trees behind her.

‘Lucien, sweetheart, we need that totem for the meditation circle in a moment, darling. Can you just pop it back in the peace yurt?’

There was no reply, but some distinctly un-peaceful crashing and yelling from the undergrowth was followed by an ominous splash, which suggested something untoward was going on.

‘Lucien?’ Lily’s voice had a faint air of desperation.

‘Shall I nip over and see what’s going on?’

‘That would be wonderful, Finn. Bless you.’ Lily smiled at him beatifically, inclining her head to one side. ‘He is
such
a sweetheart,’ she added, watching his
disappearing back as he strode into the woods. He was clad in a pair of faded, beaten-up jeans, a grey T-shirt clinging to a muscular back that Lily was clearly quite taken with. ‘So good
with Lucien. He adored him the moment he met him – I took him down to see Finn at work in his studio.
So
good to see a man with both yin and yang in perfect balance.’

Isla managed not to snort with laughter. Lily’s expression suggested she’d be quite keen to balance Finn’s yin and yang herself. She was looking at him as if he was the only
cream cake at an organic tofu buffet.

‘Anyway, Isla, I can’t thank you enough for coming up here. I’d
love
to exchange knowledge with you. I’m hoping to manifest my own holistic range of therapeutic
products, but with your knowledge in the meantime, it will be
marvellous
to get an idea of the sort of things the right people are using.’ She set off towards the house. Isla, slightly
bemused, followed her.