[Escape 01.0] Escape for the Summer

by Ruth Saberton

  “If that’s your opinion of me, then fine,” she told him. “I won’t hassle you any longer.”

  “Fine,” he echoed. “You may as well get off here. I’ll moor up and fetch the trailer.”

  Andi’s throat tightened with grief. When she stepped ashore, she wanted to ask him why Angel’s words had upset him so much, but there was such a closed look on his usually open face that she didn’t dare. His anger was palpable. As he steered the boat away without so much as a backwards glance, she felt so close to tears that she had to gulp fresh air. Their friendship meant so much to her that to contemplate losing it was unbearable.

  She pulled her rucksack onto her shoulders and bit back her disappointment. She had absolutely no idea what had upset him so much and, worse still, even less of an idea how to put it right.

  Chapter 26

  Angel was in a determined mood. Wired from all the excitement on the water and slightly squiffy after drinking champagne in the sun, she was adamant that her plans were going to go smoothly. Nothing, but nothing, was going to stand in the way of her and Laurence finally getting it together. Not a pet-food millionaire, or her own lack of funds – and certainly not her spoilsport big sister. Travis had been really taken with Andi; it was impossible not to be, because her sister was, when she put her mind to it, actually very pretty. Angel had high hopes that in spite of getting off to a bad start they might actually hit it off.

  As she heated up the straighteners and ironed the Chloé dress, Angel reflected that Andi could do much better for herself than that miserable odd-job man she insisted on hanging out with. Granted, he was ridiculously good-looking; Angel would give him that much – and when his eyes had flashed with anger her stomach had knotted deliciously – but he was such a killjoy and totally lacking in fun. You only had to see how he drove that ancient boat as though he was some kind of pensioner to know exactly what he was like – about as much fun as a wet weekend in Margate! Whereas Trav, with his sexy boat and love of speed, was much more exciting. He never stopped laughing either, whereas that glowering Jonty could have given Oscar the Grouch a run for his money. No, Angel decided as she shook out the dress and hung it carefully from the curtain rail, her sister had wasted far too much time with useless guys who bled her dry and had no sense of adventure. Andi was gorgeous and deserved to be treasured and spoiled rotten; she should be with a man who could take the financial strains away and give her the best of everything, which was exactly what Travis could do. This Jonty, living in his sister’s garden shed and making ends meet by doing odd jobs, was bound to end up expecting her sister to do everything while he played boats and bummed around. In short, Andi was in danger of hooking up with another Tom and there was no way Angel was going to let that happen again. Not on her watch, as Laurence would say!

  Hmm, Laurence. Angel paused in the middle of sorting through her extensive wheelie bag of make-up, lost in thoughts of her eligible viscount. He liked her – she knew he did – but talk about taking it slowly. They were practically going backwards! Today’s champagne picnic off the coast of Lundy had been fabulous but Trav had been there too and the closest she had managed to get to Laurence was a discreet brushing of fingertips when he passed her a flute of champagne. Angel’s knickers had practically burst into flames at just this, and she was starting to wonder how much longer she could take the frustration. It was all very well his being a gentleman, but at this rate she’d be drawing her old-age pension before they even kissed. No, there was nothing else for it but to make sure that Travis was occupied with Andi. She was doing her sister a favour anyway; it was high time Andi had some fun.

  Gemma was certainly having fun. Angel didn’t get it personally, but working in Rock Cakes seemed to agree with her best friend. Gemma had just rolled in at half five positively glowing and, amazingly, had managed to bypass both the biscuit tin and the fridge. She’d not stopped for long, muttering something about going into town for an audition, but her sparkling eyes and smiling face spoke volumes. Although it was only for an amateur production, Angel was relieved: during their last few weeks in London, Gemma had been on an increasingly downwards spiral, which could only end with her face buried in a pizza. At that point, Gemma’s acting ambitions had only seemed to extend as far as pretending she hadn’t polished off Angel’s Special K. It was good to see her looking happy and getting excited about acting again. So the Callum South thing hadn’t quite worked out, but it wasn’t the end of the world. There was always Peter Andre...

  Cheered up by thoughts about how she could help revitalise Gemma’s reality TV career (she’d be perfect for the whole weight-loss DVD angle), Angel busied herself with selecting the perfect hot-date outfit for her sister. When Andi eventually arrived at the caravan, feeling flatter than week-old only cola, Angel was waiting for her, armed with the Chloé dress, fake tan and her wheelie bag full of make-up.

  “You shall go to the ball, Cinders!” Angel declared, the second Andi all but fell through the door. “Go and jump in the shower, borrow my Mademoiselle body lotion and then I’m going to give you a makeover.”

  Andi looked less than thrilled. The last time Angel had given her a makeover she’d made the cast of Geordie Shore look understated.

  “You’ll look fabulous, really natural,” Angel said swiftly, seeing her sister baulk. “Honestly, you won’t regret it. Vanya loves the make-up I do for her. I’ll do you a fake tan too,” she added kindly, holding up a mirror. “See? You look really pale.”

  Andi felt pale. She glanced in the mirror and her face was white beneath her slight tan, her freckles standing out like foxglove speckles. After Jonty had left she’d sat staring at the river for what had felt like ages, their disagreement playing on her mental DVD like a video nasty. She couldn’t bear the fact that he thought badly of her. On the other hand, that he could jump to conclusions so readily made her wild. Jonty didn’t know the first thing about her or about Angel. How dare he make judgements?

  “A fun evening out with friends is exactly what you need,” Angel was saying, propelling her in the direction of their cupboard bathroom. “Laurence has booked a table at The Wharf Café for seven. I said we’d meet him and Travis there.”

  The thought of an evening with the cockatiel, on top of her row with Jonty, was enough to make Andi want to stick her head in the Calor-gas oven.

  “I don’t think so,” she began, but Angel wasn’t taking no for an answer; finally Andi caved in, partly because she was too shattered to argue and partly because there seemed to be no point in protesting. Jonty had already made up his mind that she and her sister were just a pair of fortune-hunting harpies, so staying in the caravan moping wasn’t going to do any good. Before long she was showered and wearing Angel’s green dress. Still feeling as though her stomach was trying to digest cut glass, Andi let Angel tweak her hair and play with her make-up, although she put her foot firmly down when it came to the fake tan.

  “You look gorgeous,” Angel declared, spritzing her with a final blast of Mademoiselle. “Honestly, I don’t know why you don’t make more of an effort.” Her hands on Andi’s shoulders, she spun her sister around to face the cracked mirror tile they all fought over. A slim girl with light honey-coloured skin and wide eyes stared back, the green dress picking out the deep reds of the hair swept back from her face. For once Angel hadn’t opted for the full Lily Savage look, but had dusted Andi’s face with the softest of bronzes to highlight her subtle tan and swept mascara across her lashes. Andi stared at her reflection and thought that she preferred the usual version, all tangled curls, cut-off shorts and vest top. Still, Angel seemed thrilled and that was the main thing.

  It was a perfect summer’s evening, the air so still that the town seemed to be holding its breath. The estuary was a silver ribbon winding its leisurely way out to the milky sea, which seeped into a pearly pink sky. Small boats glided silently across the horizon and even the gulls were quiet for once, as though too tired from the long hot day to squabble and squawk. Cow parsley frot
hed in the hedgerows and valerian flowers nodded drunkenly from the dry-stone walls. While they walked down into town and Angel texted frantically – the mobile black spot in the caravan being a cause of great anxiety for her – Andi looked down at the perfect view that ended what should have been a perfect day. She still couldn’t work out what had gone wrong and why Jonty had been so angry, but she knew she wouldn’t find peace until she did. Unlike Angel’s mobile, which was buzzing like a swarm of wasps, hers remained as silent as a Trappist monk. Andi sighed.

  “An-dee,” Angel said, breaking through her tangled thoughts in a familiar sing-song tone that Andi recognised all too well as usually preceding a request. “Laurence has just texted. He says Trav has had to go to Newquay. He’s really sorry but he won’t make it for dinner, so I was wondering...” She paused and Andi smiled at her. Sometimes Angel was so transparent she could have doubled for a pane of glass.

  “And you were wondering whether I would mind leaving you alone with him?” she finished.

  Her sister looked sheepish. “I feel terrible because you’ve made such an effort and you look amazing. And you haven’t eaten.”

  Food was the last thing on Andi’s mind. It would be hard to stuff her face when it felt as though piranha fish were chomping on her stomach. To escape a meal and several hours with Travis the cockatiel was a relief.

  “You go and see Laurence.” She gave Angel a hug. “Have a lovely time and don’t worry about me. I’ll pick something up on the way home.”

  “And hang out with the odd-job man?” Angel sighed. She’d had such high hopes of Travis – his brand new Range Rover was to die for – but her stubborn sister seemed determined not to listen. Much as she was fizzing with excitement at the mere thought of seeing Laurence, she was bitterly disappointed that Andi wasn’t spending time with them all this evening. Maybe she could persuade Andi to go out on the boat tomorrow? Trav’s RIB was amazing and went much faster than that old wreck her sister had been in earlier. Once she saw the RIB properly, Andi was bound to be impressed with Travis. Pleased with this plan, Angel hugged her sister back.

  Alone at long last, Andi turned around and, as though her feet had a memory all of their own, she soon found herself taking the path up to Ocean View. The cobalt-blue pool glimmered invitingly in the evening sunshine, an array of snorkels and wetsuits were strung from makeshift washing lines between the cedars, and the smell of barbecue drifted on the warm breeze. As she walked past the pool house it was clear that the place was deserted. Wherever Jonty had gone once Ursula was safely back in her shed, it wasn’t home. She was surprised to discover just how bitterly disappointed she was.

  “Don’t look so sad! He’s in the kitchen!” Mel called, crossing the lawn with a basket of washing clamped against her Joules-clad hip. Tucking her arm through Andi’s, she steered her gently through the lavender and rosemary bushes towards the house. “You look gorgeous,” she added admiringly. “I hope my brother is going to take you somewhere wonderful. Not that he’s bothered to change – I think he practically lives in his board shorts and deckies.” Mel’s chatter was like the Severn in full flood, and before Andi could get a word in edgeways, she continued confidentially, “Jonty’s in a vile mood, which isn’t like him at all. Hopefully you’ll cheer him up. He’s always happier when you’re around.”

  Right now Andi doubted this.

  “He was grouchy from the moment he got in,” Mel confided. “His phone’s been beeping non-stop and he was closeted with Simon for hours.” Her eyes flashed with anger. “If it’s that Jax hassling him again, I swear to God I’ll swing for her.”

  Andi couldn’t help herself; she had to know more. “Were they together long?”

  “Too long,” Mel said darkly. They had paused by the back door and she lowered her voice a fraction. “About three years, on and off, I guess. She’s an older woman; she knows what she wants and she goes after it, but she let Jonty down really badly when he had business troubles. He wouldn’t allow her interests to be compromised in any way – my brother’s a total gentleman like that – but Jax was more than happy to leave him high and dry when the tables were turned. He could have lost everything and she wouldn’t have given a toss.”

  “So they were business partners?”

  Mel nodded. “Then she broke his heart and couldn’t have cared less.” She reached out and deadheaded a rose so viciously that if it had been a voodoo rose the notorious Jax would have been in trouble. “He sold his flat and moved in with us for almost a year, which the boys loved because they could see him every day.” She looked thoughtful. “In fact there’s still a Jonty-shaped dent in the sofa from all the Xbox playing, although that’s probably with Simon rather than the kids. Anyway, at least things are better now, although she’ll know that too of course. No wonder she’s been desperate to get back in contact. Jax loves money.”

  “But he’s working for you, isn’t he?” Andi was confused. Jonty couldn’t earn much more than board and lodging mowing lawns and cleaning the pool for Simon and Mel. Where would the appeal be for the money-loving Jax? Apart from the fact that Jonty was wonderful, of course.

  Mel looked flustered. “Well, yes, of course. I just meant that she’s probably bored and looking for somewhere to go for the summer.” She dropped her voice even further. “I probably should have told him, but she’s left several messages on our answerphone. She’s renting a place here for a month, to try and worm her way back I guess. I deleted all the messages, obviously.” Snap! Another rose met its end. “I just wish I could delete her!”

  Andi had never seen Mel so ruffled or so angry. Her eyes were bright with emotion and she visibly had to gather herself. “Sorry, Andi, I didn’t mean to pour all that out on you. It’s just that he’s in such a happy space at the moment and I couldn’t bear to see that fall apart again. Jax isn’t good for him at all, but they have a history and I worry sometimes. I’m probably just being an overprotective big sister.”

  Andi thought that if Mel had seen Jonty earlier she might reconsider her idea that he was in a good space. She was just about to make her excuses and head home – as interrupting a family evening was not on her agenda – when the kitchen door opened and Jonty strode out. When he saw Andi chatting with Mel he looked taken aback.

  “Anyway, enough of me gassing on,” Mel said hastily when neither her brother nor Andi spoke. The air crackled with tension. “I’ve got washing to sort and two revolting children to bath. I’ll catch you both later.”

  She shut the door firmly behind her and moments later they heard her yelling for the boys.

  “You’re very dressed up,” Jonty said quietly.

  “I’m not off hunting for rich men, if that’s what you think,” Andi shot back. His earlier words still stung.

  Jonty looked at Andi, his eyes slowly raking the length of her body. She pushed her hair away from her face, unusually shy with him all of a sudden. After talking to Mel, a few parts of the Connect Four of Jonty’s anger were falling into place for Andi. If he’d been hurt and betrayed by a woman who had cost him dearly, both emotionally and financially, it would explain his overreaction to Angel and her talk of rich men.

  A blackbird trilled in the undergrowth, some wind chimes tinkled and suddenly it was like an evil spell was broken. Jonty exhaled slowly, as though he had been holding his breath underwater for a very long time.

  “You look absolutely gorgeous,” he said softly. “And I’ve been vile. I’m so sorry for that. I wish I could wipe all those ugly words away and just go back to our wonderful afternoon.”

  Her voice caught. “So do I.”

  He reached out and took her hand. It fitted snugly inside his and Andi looked up at him wonderingly. When he raised her fingers to his mouth and kissed them gently she thought she would dissolve. Oh Lord. This was not good news. She wasn’t supposed to feel like this!

  “There are lots of things I need to tell you,” Jonty said quietly. “Things I should have told you about earlier on but that I’ve
held back.” He smiled ruefully. “I guess I was scared it might change what you thought of me and ruin our friendship. That’s come to mean a lot to me.”

  Andi stared at him, wondering what bombshell he was about to drop. She too knew all about holding back through fear. “And to me,” she said.

  “I should have been honest with you,” Jonty continued, his thumb skimming across her palm, “and there have been a thousand times I’ve been on the brink of saying something. This afternoon when we were out on Ursula, I nearly told you then.”

  Her stomach was a mesh of delicate knots. Only what he said next would untie them.

  “You can tell me anything,” Andi said quietly. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

  He squeezed her hand. “The best of friends, I hope. And boating buddies too, of course.”

  She squeezed back. “Definitely.”

  He bit his lip. “I know what I’m going to say will change everything, but I need to be straight with you. I have to be.”

  Jonty looked so stricken that Andi’s heart melted like tarmac in a heatwave.

  “It doesn’t matter to me what might have happened in the past,” she said firmly. “If the past was so great it wouldn’t be in the past, remember?”

  But this time he didn’t laugh. “This isn’t just about the past, this is about the present too. When I saw your sister earlier, it made me wonder if I could actually trust anyone ever again. Believe me, I’ve made so many mistakes before.”

  Andi thought of her emptied bank accounts, finding Tom with Gina and being stitched up at work. “We all have,” she agreed. “But unless people tell the truth then I don’t see that friendships can work. They have to be based on honesty, surely?”