[Escape 01.0] Escape for the Summer

by Ruth Saberton

  And what had he told her in return?

  Nothing.

  They’d just spent the night together, the most incredible night of her life. She thought they’d been close, that this was the start of something really special, and she’d laid her soul bare. Jonty had taken down, brick by brick, all the careful walls she’d built around herself since Tom had betrayed her, taken them down so carefully and quietly that she’d not even realised. Neither had she noticed that while her defences were breached, Jonty’s were firmly in place with the drawbridge up and the portcullis slammed down. Right now he was probably boiling the oil and arming the cannons.

  “Somebody needed to tell you the truth,” said Jax, who, bombshell dropped, was prepared to be sickly with faux sympathy. “You’re making a fool of yourself and it’s embarrassing. I would have thought Mel or Simon would have said something but, then again, they’re having a free holiday in Jonty’s house, aren’t they? Why jeopardise that to save the hired help from looking like a lovesick teenager?”

  Ocean View belonged to Jonty?

  Everything was back to front. It was like looking in one of those distorted funfair mirrors. The house, the boat, the flash cars… These weren’t Simon’s, as he’d led her to believe, but Jonty’s. So why was he wasting his time living in the pool house and pretending to be a gardener? And what was he doing tinkering about with Ursula when he could have had millions of pounds’ worth of powerboat moored in the estuary? None of it made sense. It was the most elaborate and cruel deception she could have imagined.

  The Jonty she knew and loved, the man who had held her against his heart all night and promised that everything was going to be all right, had vanished like the remnants of a dream. He had never even existed. The whole summer had been nothing but a pack of beautiful lies.

  At this moment it felt as though somebody was dragging barbed wire through her heart, but there was no way Andi was prepared to let Jax know all her hopes and dreams had splintered into a million painful pieces. Her pride was all she had left; there was no way she was letting it go.

  “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Jax said, looking nothing of the sort. The expression on her perfect face was closer to triumphant. “But as one woman to another, you should stay away from a man who’s got so much money and power he can do what he like. Women are disposable to men like Jonty. I should know because I’ve seen enough of them come and go. But do you know something, Andi? It will always be me he’ll come back to in the end. Me, because I understand him: we share the same world and without me he would never have made it in the first place. I’m his equal and he knows that. You? You’re just some shag. A casual screw. He didn’t even trust you enough to tell you who he really is.”

  Andi felt sick. Had she just been a casual thing to him? It hadn’t felt like that at all but then what did she know? She was clearly a crap judge of character. Tom and Jonty both proved that.

  “Stick around by all means if you want to be another plaything for him, but bear in mind the summer’s nearly over. It’ll soon be time to return to London.” Jax threw the keys into the air and caught them neatly. “Still, it’s your call. I just thought that it was time one of us told you the truth and stopped you making a total idiot of yourself.”

  “You’re all heart,” Andi told her.

  Jax shrugged. “It’s up to you, darling. I just thought you should know.”

  “And now I do, you can leave.” Andi wasn’t sure how she kept her voice so calm and level when inside her heart was hammering but there was no way she was going to crumble in front of Jax.

  “He’ll come back to me; he always does.” Jax paused in the doorway and stared pityingly at her. “We go back years and he owes me. I know him, the real him, and he needs that. Ask his sister or Simon. They might hate it but they know it’s true.”

  Jax stalked down the path, still swinging her keys. Andi didn’t move a muscle until she heard her car roar into life. Then and only then did she allow herself the luxury of tears.

  Jonty had lied to her, played with her emotions and proved beyond all possible doubt that men were not to be trusted. And she had trusted him, with every beat of her heart and every breath she drew. She had loved him with every cell of her being and every touch of her lips and her hands. Loved him more than she’d ever thought it was possible.

  What an idiot she was. Had she learned nothing over the past month? Men lied. Men let you down. Men weren’t to be trusted. Tom, her father, Jonty: everyone was a disappointment.

  Andi dashed her tears away with the heels of her hands and drew a shaky breath. There was one thing she now knew for sure: this time she really was leaving Rock and she this time wouldn’t be coming back. Her summer escape was over.

  Chapter 47

  Andi stumbled away from the pool house. How was it possible to fall from heaven to hell in just minutes? The speed of her descent from bliss to utter grinding despair was dizzying. Jonty, Project Manager B, Benjamin Jonathan Teague or whatever he liked to call himself owed her some answers. She might not be a millionaire or a captain of industry but she still didn’t deserve to be treated with such cruel contempt. What might have been just a bit of holiday fun for a multimillionaire had actually meant something to her and she’d been stupid enough to think it had meant something to him too. She’d actually trusted Jonty.

  Well, that was a mistake she wouldn’t repeat in a hurry.

  “You’re awake!” Mel, pegging wet swimming gear out on the line, beamed at Andi. “We were wondering when you’d surface. Si and Jonty finished up ages ago. Shall I put the kettle on?”

  Andi wasn’t in the mood for chatting, especially not to a woman who had just spent the best part of two months concealing the tiny fact that her brother was the British Bill Gates. She was so hurt that she could hardly bring herself to look at Mel. So much for thinking she’d made friends here. “Where’s Jonty? I need to talk to him.”

  “He’s just strolled down into town. He said something about getting some bits together for a boat trip.” Washing line full, Mel turned her attention to Andi and her smile faded. “Is everything OK? You look terrible.”

  This wasn’t really surprising because terrible was exactly how Andi felt. Mel and Simon had known the truth all along. Had they been laughing at her all summer?

  “I’ve seen Jax,” she said. It was amazing that her voice actually functioned when misery was strangling her every cell. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. She’s told me everything.”

  “I doubt that very much,” Mel said. Her face was ashen. “Jax and the truth aren’t particularly well acquainted.”

  “A bit like the truth and your brother?”

  Mel shook her head. “Andi, you don’t understand—”

  Andi’s eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away furiously.

  “You’re right, Mel, I don’t understand. How could you all have lied to me? You must have thought it was so funny, that I didn’t have a clue what was really going on. Have you any idea how it feels to suddenly find out that everything you thought was true is actually a lie? That job with Si – Jonty lined it all up because he felt sorry for me, didn’t he? I was never really working for Si at all. And this house, it isn’t even yours, is it? It’s Jonty’s holiday home.”

  It wasn’t only Andi who looked close to tears: Mel’s heartbreakingly familiar sea-hued eyes were also suspiciously bright. Andi looked away. The very sight of Mel felt like a slap in the face.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” whispered Mel. She clutched the peg bag to her chest as though seeking comfort. “I told him this would happen. Look, Andi, I can explain everything. It really isn’t what you think.”

  Andi stared at her askance. “Mel, I’m not stupid. I know you’ve all been lying to me for weeks. It’s exactly what I think. Nobody thought enough of me, or trusted me enough, to tell me the truth.”

  But Mel shook her dark head vehemently. “No, it wasn’t like that at all. Shit, Andi, I wanted Jonty to tell you the
truth about himself. I told him enough times that no good was going to come of this. Christ knows Si and I didn’t like having to pretend either, but it wasn’t our secret to share. And believe me, if you knew what my brother’s been through in the past, how he’s been treated and betrayed, you’d totally understand why we were happy to help him. He’s a good man and I’d do anything to protect him.”

  “Protect him?”

  Mel grimaced. “Rock’s full of gold-diggers – you’ve met Jax for heaven’s sake – all I wanted was for somebody to love my brother for himself, not his bank balance. He’s been hurt enough in the past.”

  “I’m not like that!” Andi cried, hurt beyond words. “And Jonty should know me better. We were supposed to be friends! He should have trusted me, like I trusted him.” Her voice cracked, “But then again, I don’t really know him at all, do I? The man I thought I knew doesn’t even exist. He was just playing at being a normal guy.”

  “You’re wrong! The man you know is my brother! He is exactly the person you think he is,” Mel cried. “The Jonty you’ve spent the summer with is genuine, I promise! The rest of it is just crap. Why do you think he drives that ancient car and lives in the pool house? He enjoys the simple things. Even that tatty old boat of his, which he’s had since he was at uni, means more to him than a powerboat penis symbol. He’s just Jonty. The rest of it all happened by accident.”

  Jonty. Board shorts and bare feet. Happy eating chips down on the quay. Jonty who had made her gasp and cry and cling to him. Or JB Teague with his smart suit and bright red supercar? With millions in the bank and an army of women frantic to fall at his tanned feet? Andi’s head spun. Mel could gush like an oil well all day long about how he was just a regular guy, but how many regular guys made JK Rowling look skint? Andi’s brain was a kaleidoscope of confusion. She didn’t know what to believe.

  “I know my brother and he really doesn’t care about the money; that was just an accident.” Mel promised. “He really is just a geek who got lucky. Ask Si if you don’t believe me. He has a heart of gold and he’s still the same guy you know. What he feels for you is real, Andi. You have to believe me. I have never seen my brother the way he is when he’s with you.”

  Andi wanted to believe her, so much that it was a dull ache. When she thought of Jonty and the night they’d spent together, she still felt fuzzy and warm inside. Or she did until she remembered that he was no longer just Jonty, beach bum and chip-eating, FT-reading friend. She recalled the guy featured in Cosmo, all designer clothes and champagne flutes, and it was like staring into a shattered looking glass.

  “You have to believe me,” Mel pressed when she didn’t reply. “He isn’t a liar or a fake. He’s just the same person he’s always been. Don’t listen to Jax. She just hates the fact that now he’s worth a fortune, she can’t have him. Believe me, she didn’t want him when the business nearly folded. We couldn’t see the bitch for dust. We’ve only tolerated her here because Jonty didn’t want her to tell everyone who he is and wreck his summer. Being here is the poor guy’s only hope of anything like a normal life. You’ve got to try and understand why he’s been so secretive.”

  This was easy for Mel to say, Andi thought: she’d known the truth all along, whereas the Jonty she knew had been obliterated in seconds.

  “He’s lied to me, Mel,” she said sadly. “And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over that. I’m sick and tired of people lying to me.”

  Mel nodded miserably. “I understand. I did try and warn Jonty you might feel like this but he was terrified if you knew the truth you’d feel differently about him.” She paused. “I guess he was right about that, wasn’t he?”

  “It isn’t the truth that’s upset me,” Andi said. “It’s not being told it to begin with.”

  Leaving Mel standing in the garden, Andi made her way from Ocean View and down into the town. She knew she had to find Jonty and close their chapter. She needed to hear his explanation for why he had played her for a fool, not his sister’s well-intentioned interpretation. Maybe then she would be able to forgive him?

  It was early afternoon in town. Tourists clutching sweating paper bags full of hot pasties crowded the streets, and the cafés were doing a roaring trade with people determined to enjoy the last days of summer sunshine. Across the estuary and out to sea the horizon was bruised purple with heavy clouds, while a breeze was whipping white horses into a canter. Inland the air was soupy and the sunlight was a sickly lemon hue. Andi paused to catch her breath and felt sweat trickle down her back. A storm was brewing.

  She passed Rock Cakes, peering through the window just in case Gemma might be inside. Andi felt a pang of guilt for missing Gemma’s big night. She hoped it had all gone well. When she managed to charge her phone she’d text Gemma an apology.

  “Andi! Hey! What are you doing here? I was just on my way back. I’ve got us some lunch.”

  Jonty was striding towards her, a brown paper bag from the deli swinging from his hand, and his face was aglow with pleasure at the sight of her. Andi’s treacherous heart lifted before it came plummeting down to earth again. She wanted nothing more than to turn time back, to not have heard Jax’s ugly words and seen that triumphant sneer. How could he look like her Jonty, still have that smile that made a flutter of butterflies take flight in her stomach, and yet be a total stranger?

  Her head ached. It just didn’t make sense. Just being close to him was overwhelming. She wanted nothing more than to step forward and feel his arms close around her, and it took every ounce of self-control she had to step back when he went to kiss her. The expression of hurt on Jonty’s face took her breath away.

  “What’s wrong?” Jonty said. Concern was written all over his open features. “You look really upset. What’s happened?”

  Andi was silent for a moment. She simply didn’t know what to say.

  Jonty’s eyes searched hers. “You can tell me, whatever it is, Andi. You can tell me anything.”

  Andi’s patience finally snapped. “Like you can tell me anything, you mean?”

  Although tanned from the sun and the wind, Jonty paled.

  “You’ve spoken to Jax.” It wasn’t a question.

  She nodded. “She’s told me everything.”

  “I doubt it,” Jonty said. He ran a hand through his hair, looking lost for words. “Jesus, Andi, I didn’t want you find out like this.”

  “You didn’t want me to find out at all!” The words flew from her lips like bullets. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth, Jonty? Why did you lie to me? Couldn’t you trust me? Or is it true, I’m just a bit of summer fun for a bored rich guy?”

  “Of course that isn’t true!” Jonty shot back. “How can you even say that? You know me, Andi, me!”

  She stared at him. “Do I? The man I know lives in his sister’s pool house and fixes boat engines or mows lawn for money. He has an old boat and loves watching the wildlife on the river. That’s the man I know. The other one, the CEO of Safe T Net, is a stranger.”

  “Hardly a stranger. You were talking to me for months when I was managing the floatation,” he pointed out. “PMB? Andi, that was me! It’s amazing. We were already friends in cyber space before we even met!”

  “And just when were you planning to share that piece of information with me?”

  Jonty looked stricken. “I wasn’t deliberately not telling you. I didn’t realise for ages that you were the person I’d been talking to at Hart Frozer. You never mentioned that you worked there, remember?”

  “I hardly think not telling you where I once worked is the same as totally lying about my entire identity! I don’t know you, Jonty. I haven’t a bloody clue who the real you is. How do you think that makes me feel?”

  “This is the real me!” Jonty’s bright eyes flashed, like the darting wings of the kingfishers in the reed beds. “That’s the whole point of this. You have seen the real me. This is whom I am, me here right now, holding a bag full of brie and grapes and trying to convince the most ama
zing, wonderful, sexy woman I’ve ever met not to walk out on me. The rest of it is bollocks.”

  Tears stung her eyes.

  “It might all be bollocks to you but it isn’t to me. You lied to me, Jonty. Not just once but for weeks and weeks and weeks. At what point did you just happen to forget you were a multimillionaire and businessman? And Mel and Simon lied too. Simon probably only gave me the job because of you.”

  “No way! He gave you that job on your own merits.” Jonty stepped forward to try to hold her but Andi raised her hands to ward him off.

  “I can’t believe a word you say,” she told him. “How can I when it’s all been a lie? How could you have spent last night with me and still not told me the truth?” Her voice caught in her throat and tears threatened to blur her vision. “You had every opportunity to tell me the truth but you didn’t. You’re as much of a liar as Tom.”

  Jonty looked as though she’d slapped him.

  “If I told you that I’ve tried a hundred times to tell you, would it make any difference? I’ve lost count of the times I’ve almost told you. But Andi, I loved the way things are with you, the way that I can just be myself – my real self – when we’re together. You see me, the real me, and I can’t tell you just how wonderful that is. I couldn’t bear the thought of spoiling it. It sounds wanky I know, but my life has turned upside down. One minute I was renting a room from a mate and writing a computer program; the next the whole deal went mental and I was richer than God.” He pulled a wry face. “I’ll confess it turned me into a bit of a prick for a while, but I was still the same guy.”