The Unpredictable Consequences of Love

by Jill Mansell

  ‘I know, but I love that shop we went to last year, the one up on the esplanade. Remember the blackberry ice cream?’

  Sophie nodded. ‘You’re right, they’re the best. I’ll have one of those too. Better get tubs rather than cones, or they’ll be melted by the time you get back.’

  God, there were a lot of steps. Tula finally reached the top and paused for breath; this was her punishment for telling a lie. But Sophie would be shocked and disappointed if she knew about the sickie – she had such a work ethic, it would never occur to her to skive off.

  Plus, Tula knew if she tried to call her boss from the beach, there was the chance of him overhearing seasidey holiday-type background noises and waves crashing on the sand.

  To the left was the beginning of the esplanade, crowded with people. To the right was a narrow path leading up to the grounds of a hotel.

  OK, the sound of screaming kids would be a giveaway too. Turning right, Tula took the quieter option and admired the hotel’s grounds as she wandered through them. Nice place. And here was a secluded bench, set back in a honeysuckle-strewn archway. Perching on the wooden seat, she took out her phone. A text would be way easier but such a cop-out; only a complete amateur would think of texting in sick. Patrick was suspicious enough as it was.

  No, it had to be done properly, voice-to-voice.

  Well, croak-to-voice.

  She pressed call and heard the phone start to ring two hundred miles away in Birmingham.

  Now, how would Kate Winslet do this?

  ‘Bailey’s Bar.’ Patrick’s manner was as brusque as his personality.

  ‘Oh … Patrick, is that you?’ Tula adopted an agonised whisper, as if she were incredibly brave but doubled over in agony and unable to crawl out of bed.

  ‘Tula, what’s up?’ His voice became even more brusque, if that was possible.

  From the back of the hotel, a tall male figure had emerged and was making his way across the lawn in her direction. Not deliberately in her direction, thank God; he was just heading for the path that led down to the beach. Half turning away so as not to make eye contact, Tula whispered, ‘I’m so sorry, Patrick, I really don’t think I’m going to be able to—’

  ‘What? Speak up, girl, I can’t hear you.’

  That’s because I’m being ill, you wazzock.

  ‘I’m not going to be able to work tonight.’ She raised her voice but kept it in death’s-door mode. ‘I think it’s food poisoning from the prawn curry I had last night … Oh Patrick, I thought I was going to die; I’ve never felt so terrible in my life …’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man passing by and swivelled round still further.

  ‘So where are you?’ Patrick demanded. ‘In hospital?’

  Honestly, would he only be happy if she was in the intensive care unit on life support? ‘No,’ she croaked, clutching her stomach in order to sound more convincingly ill. ‘I’ve just been throwing up all night and all morning. Pretty much non-stop. I mean, if I feel better in the next few hours I’ll come in for my shift, you know I hate to let you down, but the way I’m feeling at the moment, I can’t see it happ—’

  ‘So you’re not going to be in,’ he interrupted curtly. ‘Well that’s just great. What about tomorrow night?’

  Miserable bastard. Such compassion. ‘I expect so … if it’s just a twenty-four-hour thing, I should be better by then …’

  ‘Well make sure you are,’ Patrick snapped. ‘And you’d better not be messing me around.’

  Honestly, what a cheek. Irritated, Tula croaked, ‘I’m sick, Patrick. Don’t try and make out I’m not. Have I ever let you down before?’

  Since there was no answer to that, because she hadn’t, he snorted and hung up.

  Tula watched the man from the hotel as he headed down the steps in the direction of the beach. Broad shoulders, dark hair, rather nice view from the back; she wondered briefly whether the front matched up.

  Anyway, blackberry ice creams. Relieved to have the dreaded phone call out of the way, she slid her phone into the pocket of her shorts. Then, spirits lifted, she set off in the direction of the esplanade.

  Chapter 4

  Lying on her back, Sophie closed her eyes and revelled in the blissful sensation of the sun on her eyelids. She really should do this more often. Somehow, spending a whole day on the beach always felt like a luxury she couldn’t afford to indulge in; building up the business invariably took priority. If Tula hadn’t come down today, she would have kept herself busy with work.

  But she was glad she hadn’t now. Taking a few hours off made a nice change. Resting her arms behind her head, she trailed her fingers through the dry, fine sand and listened to the sounds of the waves breaking on to the beach, the seagulls swooping and wheeling overhead. The smell of Ambre Solaire hung in the air and a light breeze was coming in off the ocean.

  Sophie stretched, satiated. As well as the blackberry ice creams, they’d had fish and chips and Maltesers. And Diet Coke. It had been a lovely day, spent gossiping, swimming, then later joining in with a game of volleyball on the beach. Now they were enjoying the last couple of hours of sunshine and listening to the chatter and snippets of conversation going on around them. Children were engaged in building sandcastles and digging moats, couples were idly bickering and the group of posh girls directly behind them were eyeing up the talent and providing a running commentary on their various attributes.

  ‘The one in the yellow board-shorts? He’s pretty fit.’

  ‘Not bad. I’d rather have the blond one with the tan. Nice abs.’

  ‘But he’s got one of those noses. There’s big and there’s too big.’

  ‘Oh come on, it’s only a nose, that can be fixed! See the guy with the long dark hair? He’s good-looking but his body’s too long for his legs … now that’s something you’re never going to be able to sort out.’

  Cue giggles. Sophie opened her eyes and tilted her head to the left to see what Tula was doing. True to form, she was propped up on her elbows, surveying the view. Which included, naturally, the men in question.

  Of course it did. Tula would never miss an opportunity to ogle.

  Following her line of gaze, Sophie saw Josh Strachan emerging from the sea with his surfboard. He shook water from his hair and glanced over in their direction, prompting a flurry of interest among the posh girls.

  ‘Now that’s much better, that’s what I call a body,’ the loudest of them said in admiration. ‘How did we manage to miss him before?’

  The answer to this was quite simple: for the last hour or so, Josh had been busy surfing, and it was presumably the first time he’d left the water. Sophie, who’d spotted him earlier, watched as he made his way over to the café.

  ‘Unzip your wetsuit, unzip your wetsuit,’ one of the other girls chanted quietly. ‘Come on now, let’s see your chest.’

  ‘Ooh, spoilsport,’ said the loud one as Josh disappeared from view with his wetsuit still zipped. ‘I may have to go over there and get myself a drink. Show him what he’s missing.’

  ‘Hang on, here he is again, and he’s got a dog with him now! Oooh, look at that, sooooo cute …’

  Because that was the thing about Griff: he did have the knack, when he wasn’t being a mud-spattering, havoc-causing holy devil, of looking ridiculously cute. Sophie, plugging her earphones back into her ears, turned the volume on her iPod up to maximum to block out the chatter of the girls behind them, and closed her eyes once more.

  Less than a minute later, someone was licking her toes.

  Or, more accurately, something. Having done a shuddery, whole-body twitch, Sophie jackknifed into a sitting position and saw that it was Griff at her feet, tongue lolling and tail wagging away happily.

  At the other end of his lead was Josh.

  ‘Sorry.’ He grinned down at her, evidently not meaning it. ‘Thought it was you, earlier. Hello again.’

  The last time he’d seen her, she’d been upright, wearing jeans and a top, and her hair had been l
oose. Today she was prone in a bikini with her hair tied back and dark glasses half covering her face. Lifting the glasses, she said, ‘You’ve been in the sea the whole time. I’ve been here. How could you know it was me from that far away?’

  It had all gone quiet behind her. Josh Strachan looked briefly surprised. At last he replied mildly, ‘I recognised your bag.’

  Oh. Right. Sophie glanced over at the oversized holdall she carried with her everywhere. Made of bright turquoise leather and studded all over with nuggets of silver that reflected the sun and glittered like camera flashes, it probably was quite … standoutish.

  Fair enough.

  ‘And how about you?’ Josh’s tone altered. ‘How are you feeling now?’

  What? What was that supposed to mean? Opening her mouth to ask, Sophie belatedly realised he was addressing Tula.

  Which made even less sense.

  Tula, clearly thinking the same, said, ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘I saw you swimming earlier. And playing volleyball. Seems like a pretty miraculous recovery.’ He paused, tilting his head to indicate the carrier bag at her side, containing all the empty drinks cartons and food wrappers. ‘After last night’s dodgy prawn curry.’

  Last night? What was he on about? ‘You’ve got the wrong person,’ Sophie protested. ‘Tula wasn’t even here last night.’

  Josh smiled and replied pleasantly, ‘I didn’t say she was.’

  If it were possible to have an awkward silence on a noisy crowded beach, this was it. Even more bizarrely, Tula had gone bright red. The girls behind them were doubtless agog.

  With all the finesse of a five-year-old, Tula shook her head and said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  She never had been able to tell a convincing lie.

  ‘Don’t you?’ Josh Strachan was evidently finding the situation entertaining. ‘So the girl I saw sitting in the grounds of our hotel earlier, the one talking to someone on her phone about how incredibly ill she was, thanks to a prawn curry … that wasn’t you?’

  ‘Fine,’ Tula blurted out. ‘Great, brilliant, thanks a lot. The whole point of doing it up there rather than down here, believe it or not, was because I was trying to be discreet.’

  ‘OK. Sorry,’ said Josh, although he clearly wasn’t. ‘Anyway, looks like you’re feeling much better now. So that’s good, isn’t it?’

  ‘Josh! You off?’ Another surfer arrived, greeting him with a slap on the back. ‘Are we going to see you at the party tonight?’ Flashing a dazzling white smile at … well, pretty much every girl in the vicinity, he added cheerily, ‘Hello, ladies!’

  Behind Sophie and Tula, evidently entranced by the sight of two attractive men in wetsuits, the posh girls chorused, ‘Hello!’

  Sophie hid a smile, because that was Riley Bryant for you: the ultimate charmer in a hello-ladies kind of way. With his long sun-bleached hair, Caramac perma-tan and sea-green eyes, he was Joey from Friends personified, only blonder and thinner and with a trace of a Newcastle accent. He loved women, any women, flirted incessantly, and his vanity knew no bounds.

  What saved Riley from being insufferable was his talent for self-mockery. Outrageously and unapologetically hedonistic, he lived a life designed to suit only himself. Since holding down a proper job didn’t appeal, he survived instead on the proceeds of a trust fund set up by his doting aunt. Any criticism of his choices simply rolled off his back; he had the ability to laugh at himself and didn’t take offence. He spent his days surfing, travelling the world, partying like there was no tomorrow and sleeping with girls. If they had the choice, he argued, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to do that?

  Basically he’d be every parent’s nightmare son-in-law. But if you regarded him simply as harmless entertainment, he was always good value and amusing company to have around.

  One of the posh girls, evidently coming to the same conclusion, seized her chance and said, ‘Actually, you look like the right person to ask. We’re just down for the weekend, wondering where’s the best place around here to go for the evening. Is there anywhere fun you can recommend?’

  Riley raised a playful eyebrow. ‘Fun?’

  ‘And lively,’ her friend chimed in. ‘Some place we can let our hair down.’

  Glancing at them over her shoulder, Sophie noted that they did indeed all have plenty of hair, the gleaming, swishy kind. And teeny-tiny bikinis. They were also wearing the full complement of jewellery, fake tan and make-up. Which wasn’t something you saw that often down here on the beach.

  ‘Well, we’re going to the Mermaid.’ Riley turned and pointed in the general direction. ‘It’s at the far end of the esplanade. A friend’s celebrating his birthday there … it’ll be lively, I can guarantee that.’

  ‘And he wouldn’t mind us turning up?’

  ‘Are you kidding? More the merrier, wouldn’t you say?’ Riley turned to Sophie for confirmation. ‘You know what CJ’s like. Hardly going to complain, is he, about a bunch of gorgeous girls showing up at his party?’

  Sophie shrugged and shook her head, because this was undoubtedly true.

  The posh girl in the teeniest pink and white polka-dotted bikini said, ‘Awesome!’

  Chapter 5

  ‘So what do you reckon?’

  Sophie said, ‘About what?’

  It was nine o’clock in the evening. They’d left the beach at six, showered and changed back at the flat, and had had their first couple of drinks at a wine bar called La Petite Bouteille.

  ‘Where shall we go next?’ Tula was twirling the stem of her empty wine glass and doing her best to look innocent, as if it were a completely spur-of-the-moment question.

  She was rubbish at it.

  Since two could play at that game, Sophie said, ‘Ooh, it’s quiz night at the Mariner’s Arms. Let’s go there!’

  ‘Quiz night?’ Tula looked horrified.

  ‘It’s a really friendly pub. Loads of lovely old fishermen. We’d have a great time.’

  ‘I was thinking, why don’t we try somewhere more … buzzy?’

  ‘OK. Well, are you hungry? There’s a new Mexican restaurant with singing waiters. That’s buzzy.’ Her smile bright, Sophie added, ‘We could have chimichangas!’

  ‘Or maybe …’ Tula was casting around for inspiration, ‘how about giving that other place a go? You know … thingy … the Mermaid?’

  Sooo predictable.

  ‘I think Riley was inviting the other girls.’

  ‘No he wasn’t, it was all of us. Definitely.’ Tula nodded earnestly.

  ‘And you want to go there because you fancy him? Trust me,’ said Sophie, ‘you don’t want to get involved.’

  ‘I wouldn’t! Apart from anything else, I live two hundred miles away. Anyway, I’m not stupid,’ Tula protested. ‘I can see what he’s like.’

  Sophie raised a playful eyebrow. ‘And when has that ever stopped you before?’

  ‘Look, I just think we’d have more fun at the Mermaid than doing some boring quiz with a bunch of smelly old fishermen. Plus, the other one’ll be there too.’ As if this was the clincher, she said, ‘Thingy with the cute dog.’

  ‘Josh.’

  ‘That’s it.’

  ‘You mean the one who overheard you on the phone and caught you out, big time.’

  ‘It’s the first sickie I’ve ever pulled. You have no idea how desperate I was for a break, a weekend away. And it’s never going to happen again,’ Tula wheedled. ‘Oh, don’t look at me like that. Anyway, do you find him attractive?’

  ‘Who, Josh? No.’ Sophie shook her head; this was the way she’d trained herself to react. She hadn’t mentioned to Tula that he’d asked her out.

  ‘Yay, brilliant! So you don’t mind if I have a go at him?’

  A go? Slightly taken aback, Sophie said, ‘I thought you lived two hundred miles away.’

  ‘Come on, he’s gorgeous. All dark and carved and glinty-eyed.’ Tula jumped down from her bar stool and flashed an optimistic grin. �
��Not to mention masterful. I can give it my best shot, can’t I? Some men are worth the commute.’

  ‘Spoken like a true romantic.’

  ‘But I am romantic. If I met the right man, it wouldn’t matter to me if he was rich or poor. Although rich would be better, obviously. And if Josh half owns that hotel, he must be doing all right.’

  Sophie smiled at this, realising there was something else Tula didn’t yet know about Dot Strachan’s grandson. ‘He’s not too strapped for cash,’ she admitted. ‘He used to manage Go Destry.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Tula’s eyes widened in disbelief. ‘Go Destry? You mean … he’s the one who discovered them? Bloody hell, why didn’t you tell me this before?’

  Sophie shrugged. Hollywood gossip simply didn’t loom large on her radar. Or even small, come to that. ‘Sorry. I didn’t know.’

  Every so often, fate and luck conspire together to create synchronicity, and a kind of magic results. It had happened to Josh Strachan three years ago when he’d been making his way through an LA park and had passed a group of teenagers singing and dancing along to a backing track. Their voices were good but not outstanding, their dance moves were by no means perfect and the music was frankly dire, but there was just something about them that made him want to stop, watch and listen.

  Somewhere deep down had stirred the realisation that these kids possessed the kind of indefinable charisma that couldn’t be manufactured. You either had it or you didn’t. And if it was nurtured properly … well, then the sky was the limit.

  A mixture of restless curiosity, adventure and world-class surfing beaches had brought Josh out to LA years earlier. Through friends and contacts he’d managed to land a decent job working for a small independent record label. After asking the teenagers a few questions and handing them his card, he’d suggested they come into the office the next day.

  When they did, however, nerves had got the better of them in a major way and the easy camaraderie that had piqued Josh’s interest was lost. The assembled co-directors of the company unanimously declined the opportunity to sign the band, who at the time called themselves – horrendously – Four Ov Uz. Josh did his best to argue their case but was flatly overruled. Setting up another meeting outside working hours, he spoke to the band again and listened to a very average song one of the boys had written for them. He then offered to become their manager, detected what was missing from the song, rejigged it himself and financed the trip to the recording studio.