The rhythm of the island pulsed deeper, richer now - less a hum and more a heartbeat. It throbbed in the soil, in the air, in Jude's chest as he lay beneath the golden canopy of the tree, tangled in limbs and breath and warmth.
Lucy lay half across him, her fingers lazily trailing patterns along his stomach.
Zoey rested with her head against his thigh, her eyes closed, lips slightly parted, humming softly in rhythm with the pulse of the tree. Sophie sat at his side, watching, her fingers combing through his damp hair with a care that made him ache.
They didn't speak.
None of them had for some time.