Summer of Secrets

by Rosie Rushton

  ‘Get dried,’ he ordered. ‘And wake Summer up. I’ve had it up to here with my family.’

  Despite the obvious urgency of the situation, Caitlin couldn’t resist throwing one last glance at Ludo’s wet chest and tight bum. He looked so masterful when he was angry.

  And he was so principled. She liked that in a guy.

  Sir Magnus had insisted that everyone gathered round the breakfast table, but no one felt hungry enough to eat. Summer, pale and red-eyed, slumped at one end, ignoring Alex’s weak smiles; Gabriella stifled yawns and sipped at a glass of orange juice while Ludo drummed the table with his fingers, his energy like that of a volcano about to erupt.

  ‘I’ve spoken to Isabella’s father,’ Sir Magnus said, pouring himself some coffee. ‘He wants her flown home to see some bone specialist. He’s phoning our hospital today to get more information.’

  ‘But Jamie . . .’ Caitlin began.

  ‘From what he said, Jamie is not his favourite person right now,’ Sir Magnus commented. ‘However, enough of that. We have more important things to discuss.’

  He turned to Alex.

  ‘Am I right in thinking that your father told you about – well, told you what Elena felt about . . .’

  ‘Yes.’

  Alex didn’t meet his gaze but seemed to be inspecting the quarry tiles on the floor in minute detail.

  ‘It all fell into place when he explained,’ he muttered. ‘Stuff I’d seen, things I’d overheard . . . but it wasn’t his fault that she . . .’

  ‘Of course it wasn’t,’ Gabriella broke in at once. ‘In fact, if anyone was to blame it was me.’

  It was as if someone had sent an electrical charge through Summer’s body.

  ‘You! I knew it was you – you hated her, you made her life . . .’

  She flew across the kitchen and punched Gaby in the shoulder.

  ‘I hate you, I hate . . .’

  Millionaire’s mistress in double intrigue – ‘I was there,’ says teenager.

  Caitlin knew that Prego magazine would pay mega-bucks for this kind of story. She also knew that she would never be able to write it. Which was a pity.

  ‘Summer, no! No!’ Sir Magnus pulled Summer away but instead of shouting at her as Caitlin had expected, he enveloped her in a hug and wouldn’t let her go.

  ‘Leave me alone, leave me alone!’ Summer struggled and wriggled but Sir Magnus refused to release her.

  ‘Your mum and I were friends for years, you know that,’ Gaby said, fighting back tears. ‘I always said to her that when she was having a bad patch I’d be there for her. Only that day, I wasn’t.’

  Summer said nothing, but her sobs abated a little.

  ‘She came to my cottage – I know that because she left a note. The note simply said, Where are you? It’s bad bad bad. Help me now.’

  Gaby pressed her lips together, took a deep breath and went on.

  ‘I was staying with friends in Rapallo; your dad had had to fly back to London for an emergency board meeting. She would have wanted someone around. She knew where I hid the key and she must have let herself in.’

  ‘And?’ Summer’s voice was muffled as her father still held her close to him.

  ‘We’re not sure,’ Gaby sighed. ‘But she’d clearly drunk a lot of stuff – the gin was half drunk, two empty wine bottles were flung on the floor and the police found a vodka bottle in the bushes outside.’

  She glanced at Magnus and he nodded imperceptibly.

  ‘As the police pointed out, all that alcohol would have played havoc with her medication . . .’

  ‘Medication? What medication?’

  Summer pulled away from her father and stared dully at Gaby.

  ‘She took pills to help her cope – you must remember that,’ Gaby said.

  ‘Oh – her indigestion pills.’ Summer shrugged. ‘She said she only needed them when I wasn’t there because my cooking was so nice.’

  Caitlin wondered how much longer her friend could go on deceiving herself. But when she caught her eye, she realised from Summer’s anguished expression that the words didn’t match the thoughts that were battling in her mind.

  ‘So who called the police?’ Summer demanded.

  ‘Alex’s father,’ said Sir Magnus. ‘He found the body when he was walking his dog and he told them where she was. They questioned him hard of course, and that’s when it all came out. He told them.’

  ‘Told them what, Dad?’ Summer’s tone was firmer now. ‘I want to know it all.’

  ‘Summer, not now – not here. It’s private, it’s not for everyone to—’

  ‘Dad. Caitlin’s my best mate, Alex is – was – my boyfriend . . . and you’re my family. Spit it out, for God’s sake. I’m sick of not knowing the truth. Except that—’

  She hesitated.

  ‘Except that, I think I do know it now. I think I’ve known it deep down for a very long time.’

  She wrung her hands together and swallowed back tears.

  ‘She was mad, wasn’t she? That’s what Mr di Matteo told the police. That my mother was mad.’

  ‘She wasn’t mad!’ Gabriella shouted. ‘Your mum was a sweet, talented, funny, lovely person, who happened to have bouts of mental illness that made it hard for her to distinguish between reality and delusion. But she wasn’t mad. Just ill.’

  Summer lifted her face from her father’s chest and eyed Gabriella with something approaching gratitude.

  Just then, the phone on the wall began shrilling and Gaby moved to answer it.

  ‘Leave it,’ Ludo begged her. ‘Please – let’s get this over and done with. At least now I don’t have to keep secrets any more.’

  ‘You? You knew all about this stuff?’ Summer gasped.

  ‘I knew about Mum’s illness, sure.’ Ludo shrugged. ‘Just like you did. You did, didn’t you?’

  Summer swallowed.

  ‘I knew she was – different,’ she said, nodding. ‘But I knew I could keep her safe. She told me that all the time, from when I was very little. “God sent you to me to keep me safe. Without you I’d . . .” ’

  Summer choked.

  ‘ “Without you, I’d go mad,” that’s what she’d say.’

  Her voice caught in a sob.

  ‘And I wasn’t there, and she did go mad.’

  ‘No, darling . . .’ Gaby began.

  Summer took a deep breath, and then, tears streaming down her face, she walked resolutely out of the room.

  Caitlin was sitting by the pool, idly splashing her feet in the water, when Ludo appeared.

  ‘Sorry about all that,’ he murmured. ‘You must wish you’d never come.’

  ‘Of course I don’t,’ Caitlin assured him. ‘I’m just glad it’s all getting sorted.’

  ‘Sorted?’ Ludo sneered. ‘For her maybe. For me – fat chance!’

  And with that, he dived into the pool and began slicing through the water as if his life depended on it.

  Caitlin was sketching half-heartedly at the edge of the terrace when she saw Summer and Alex coming towards her, hand in hand.

  ‘So you two are OK now?’ she said delightedly. ‘I’m so pleased . . .’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Ludo, still dripping wet from his frenetic swimming, literally ran across the terrace towards them. ‘What’s with the hand holding?’

  ‘Chill, Ludo,’ Summer said. ‘Alex has explained everything and we’re fine now and—’

  ‘No bloody way!’ Ludo shouted, and the venom in his voice made Caitlin physically flinch. ‘Do you mean Dad’s still not coming clean?’

  ‘What do you mean? Clean about what?’ Alex gasped.

  ‘Come with me,’ Ludo ordered. ‘I’ve had enough of keeping my mouth shut. I can’t bear it any longer. My sister’s been through enough. You too, Caitlin – you need to hear the truth as well.’

  For heaven’s sake, Ludo, what’s all this about?’ Sir Magnus, red-eyed with exhaustion, lowered himself heavily into a leather armchair in his study where they’d
found him filing papers.

  ‘It’s about all these secrets,’ Ludo stormed. ‘You can’t do this, Dad. Summer really does love Alex.’

  ‘I know, son.’ Sir Magnus nodded. ‘And I agree, they’re young and it’ll probably all blow over, but until it does—’

  ‘Which it won’t,’ Summer cut in.

  ‘. . . there’s no harm in it, I suppose. At least, that’s how Gaby sees it.’

  ‘No harm? Are you stark staring, raving mad? You told me that I was to make sure that the two of them never got together again, right?’

  ‘Yes, but that was because I hoped Summer wouldn’t need to find out about Elena’s illness – she had her on such a pedestal and I didn’t want her memory sullied for her.’

  ‘Oh right!’ Ludo shouted. ‘Well, I know that’s only half the reason. Go on, tell her the rest. Tell her now.’

  ‘Ludo, I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Sir Magnus shouted.

  ‘Tell her that Alex is her half-brother,’ Ludo said.

  The colour drained from Summer’s face and she began to sway. In an instant, Ludo was at her side, his arms supporting her as he led her gently to a chair. Despite the drama of the situation, Caitlin couldn’t help a flash of envy and the thought that perhaps, one day, a touch of sunstroke while walking with Ludo might be an awfully good idea.

  ‘Get her some water someone,’ Sir Magnus cried, rushing to her side and sinking to his knees. ‘And Summer, listen. It’s not true. You are my child. I swear it on – on my life.’

  He took his daughter’s hand and looked at her pleadingly.

  ‘Dad, Freddie overheard you and Alex’s dad arguing about it years ago,’ Ludo protested. ‘You can’t pretend . . .’

  ‘Sure we argued,’ Sir Magnus said. ‘We argued terrifically. I told him I never wanted to see him again.’

  ‘Yeah, because he was—’

  ‘Enough!’ Sir Magnus took Summer’s hand, and gestured to Ludo and Alex to follow him out of the room.

  Caitlin made to follow them, agog to hear the latest in this bizarre family history. But before she could reach the door, Sir Magnus had slammed it firmly in her face.

  She had thought of wandering down the hallway to eavesdrop, but despite almost dying of curiosity she couldn’t bring herself to be that deceitful. She sat in the garden room, idly flicking through Italian magazines that she couldn’t understand and listening to the monotonous ticking of the carriage clock on the sideboard.

  Eventually, she heard footsteps and Summer appeared, her cheeks streaked with mascara, but looking decidedly more cheerful.

  ‘What happened?’ Caitlin gasped. ‘I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but . . .’

  ‘But you’ll burst if I don’t!’ The ghost of a smile hovered on Summer’s lips. ‘I’m going to say this once and then please, let’s forget it, OK?’

  Caitlin nodded.

  ‘Apparently, a year or so before she died, Mum started telling people that I was . . . well, that I was a love child,’ Summer whispered. ‘She said that Alex’s dad was my father.’

  ‘But it wasn’t true?’

  ‘No, it was all part of her delusions.’

  She swallowed hard.

  ‘Apparently, she fell in love with Alex’s dad and convinced herself that he was in love with her too. She used to go round to their house – she’d throw herself at Alex’s dad and kiss him and cry and say that she couldn’t bear to be parted from him. It took Mr di Matteo a long time to convince Alex’s mum that he was innocent. That’s why she never liked it when Mum went round to their house.’

  ‘I can see why,’ Caitlin gasped.

  ‘She told this story about me being conceived on the beach after a late-night party and what was so convincing, Dad says, is that there was a party about nine months before I was born – Alex’s dad’s birthday or something.’

  Love child or legitimate heiress? Our inside reporter, Caitlin Morland, ferrets out the truth.

  The headlines formed themselves in Caitlin’s imagination.

  ‘But he didn’t believe the story?’

  Summer chewed on a fingernail.

  ‘No, because he’d been at that party and he and Mum had been together all the time. Besides, the doctors had told him over and over again about Mum becoming more delusional. But . . .’

  ‘But what?’

  ‘At the funeral, Alex’s dad kept asking how I was doing, whether I’d like to spend some time in America with his family . . . and Dad got suspicious and wondered if he’d been kidding himself after all.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He decided to get a DNA test done just to make sure,’ Summer went on. ‘So when I was asleep he cut off a bit of my hair and sent it off to one of those labs you see advertised on the internet.’

  ‘It’s like that programme – what’s it called? Silent Witness,’ Caitlin interrupted.

  ‘And it’s OK, I’m his,’ Summer said. ‘Thank goodness.’

  It occurred to Caitlin that for someone who was supposed to hate her father, Summer looked intensely relieved.

  ‘And what about Alex? Where is he?’

  ‘He’s getting ready to take take his gran to Milan,’ Summer replied. ‘Then we’re going for a walk. But guess what? Dad’s invited him to stay when he gets back.’

  ‘Ace!’ Caitlin grinned. ‘So he approves?’

  ‘Let’s put it this way,’ Summer said. ‘He said he wants to get to know him better, which for my father is almost the equivalent of a partnership in the family firm.’

  ‘You must be over the moon.’

  ‘To be honest, my head’s still spinning over all this stuff with Mum. I just hope they won’t all go back to avoiding any mention of her name.’

  ‘They won’t,’ Caitlin said confidently.

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Trust me,’ smiled Caitlin. ‘I’m good like that.’

  ‘Hey, Ludo!’ Caitlin ran across the terrace to where Ludo was leaning on the balustrade, staring pensively into the middle distance. ‘So it’s all cleared up? You must be so relieved.’

  Ludo sighed.

  ‘Yes, I guess,’ he said. ‘At least I now know why Dad told me and Freddie to make sure Alex and Summer never got in touch.’

  ‘Well, that’s the bit I don’t get,’ Caitlin admitted. ‘I mean, since he knows that all that business about her being a love child is rubbish, why would it matter?’

  ‘Because Dad, for all his faults, knew that Summer had put her mum on a pedestal. He thought that if it all came out – and let’s face it, it’s pretty embarrassing – Summer’s memory of her might somehow be tainted.’

  He glanced across the terrace.

  ‘Quiet – she’s coming over.’ He waved at his sister. ‘Hey, come and join us.’

  There were a dozen questions buzzing through Caitlin’s brain all day but she had no chance to voice any of them. Jamie, Izzy and Freddie had arrived home early that afternoon; Jamie, exhausted by a night at Izzy’s bedside, fell asleep on a sun lounger by the pool, and Freddie was closeted with his father behind closed doors, from where the sound of raised voices rang across the garden. Summer and Alex disappeared for a long walk and Caitlin was left with Izzy.

  ‘I’ve really messed up, haven’t I?’ Izzy sighed, sipping an iced lemonade that Gabriella had brought to the poolside. ‘Why can’t I be sensible like you?’

  ‘It wasn’t your fault Freddie crashed the bike,’ Caitlin reasoned. ‘But you have been treating Jamie pretty horribly and if you don’t mind me saying so, he deserves better.’

  ‘I know,’ Izzy admitted. ‘I’ve been so dumb; I mean, if I hadn’t come on to Freddie like I did, we wouldn’t have been on the stupid bike in the first place.’

  She glanced at Caitlin out of the corner of her eye.

  ‘See, we were planning to go off round Italy together.’

  ‘You were what?’ Caitlin gasped. ‘But you and Jamie were going to Venice . . .’

  ‘I know, it was me w
ho brought up the idea,’ Izzy admitted. ‘The plan was that Freddie would turn up after a couple of days, and I’d dump Jamie and go with him.’

  Izzy avoided Caitlin’s disbelieving gaze.

  ‘You would have dumped my brother just like that?’ Caitlin gasped. ‘Are you mad? Can’t you see Freddie for what he is – always high on something? He was probably drunk last night.’

  Izzy nodded.

  ‘He got breathalysed,’ she admitted. ‘And you’re right – I’ve been so horrid to Jamie, ramming Freddie down his throat. And yet all the time I was in hospital, he was there. Just holding my hand and stopping me being scared.’

  She turned to Caitlin.

  ‘Freddie did nothing all the way home in the cab but talk about which bits of him were hurting,’ she said. ‘Like I hadn’t even got a graze.’

  Caitlin was too angry to meet her eye.

  ‘And I suppose now, you want to crawl back to Jamie and pick up where you left off?’ she demanded. ‘Never mind that he’s been hurt like hell and . . .’

  ‘OK, there’s no need to go on about it, I’ve got the message,’ she said. ‘I want to be friends with Jamie – but just friends. I don’t reckon I’m ready to commit to anyone. Unlike you . . . So, how’s it going with you and Ludo? Have you got it together yet?’

  ‘No,’ Caitlin said shortly.

  ‘No?’ repeated Izzy. ‘What have you been doing all this time?’

  CHAPTER 9

  ‘She was assured of his affection.’

  (Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey)

  ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ CAITLIN WALKED UP BEHIND Ludo as he was sitting in a deck chair on the terrace, an open book in his hands.

  ‘Nothing much, why?’

  ‘I want you to do me a huge favour,’ she said. She figured she had nothing to lose; he wasn’t remotely interested in her romantically – but he did love his sister. ‘Come to Vernazza with me. Get the picture that Summer loves so much.’

  ‘I can’t,’ he replied flatly. ‘Dad would go ballistic . . .’

  ‘Ludo, you keep saying that your father shouldn’t have kept secrets, that you’re fed up with lies – but what are you doing about it? Zilch. Nothing.’

  Ludo frowned but stayed silent.