Page 114 of Best Summer Ever

‘No, it was not,’ tutted Tess. ‘But moving into Crow’s Nest might not be a bad idea.’

With the cottage’s next resident already decided, Josh and I headed back there to pack so he could quickly vacate and Marguerite could move in.

‘You’re another one who travels light,’ I said, once his few things were stowed in my car and he’d returned the door key to the pub.

‘But I did have all those letters and cards from Algy to carry with me originally, don’t forget,’ he said as he tried to open the passenger window, which had been jammed stubbornly shut since the temperature had soared. ‘They’re at Wynbrook already.’

‘Having discovered them, I would have thought it would have made more sense to leave them back in the US. Just in case your dad, for some reason, decided to check on them and found they’d gone.’

‘I have considered that myself since I got here,’ said Josh. ‘But so far, so good, in terms of him not finding out what I’ve done. And,’ he added, ‘I think there was a part of me that wasscared Dad might take it upon himself to destroy them, even though it looked like they hadn’t been disturbed for years. I couldn’t risk them being lost, especially before I’d had the chance to read them all, so keeping them with me felt like the safest option.’

‘You did the right thing then,’ I said and nodded. His father was a vindictive man and he wouldn’t have thought twice about destroying the evidence of his deception if the fancy took him. ‘Now, let’s get you back to Algy. I know he must be desperate to get you moved in.’

Having made sure early in the day that everything was well in the walled garden, Josh and I spent the rest of Tuesday together. He showed me the room he’d picked out in the manor, which overlooked the garden and then, with Algy’s blessing, we headed off. He was preoccupied with further coaxing the cat into his kitchen, so wasn’t going to miss us for a little while. Luna was making great strides in becoming tame. It was miraculous what the lure of cooked chicken could do.

Josh and I didn’t travel all that far. The lack of aircon in my car made the thought of a long excursion more than unpleasant, and besides, having both so recently fallen in love with Wynbrook, neither of us felt inclined to leave it too far behind.

‘This place is bliss, isn’t it?’ said Josh, looking across the sand to where the tide was just on the turn.

‘Just a bit,’ I willingly agreed and my heart leapt to hear him sound so happy. ‘Hey look, a starfish.’

We had decided to spend a while exploring the rock pools slightly further along the coast than Wynmouth, which was currently enjoying an influx of summer visitors.

‘That’s so pretty,’ said Josh.

‘And look there,’ I said, pointing. ‘Did you see that crab just peeping out?’

By the time we looked up again, the tide had rapidly advanced so we beat a hasty retreat back to the dunes where we ate the picnic Josh had made in the manor kitchen.

‘I feel a bit bad eating this shrimp roll,’ I said, with a wistful look back to the where the pools were now filling with seawater.

‘I’ll take it off your hands,’ Josh said, grinning.

‘I don’t feel that bad,’ I laughed, taking another bite.

Once we’d finished, we packed the basket back up, making sure we didn’t leave any litter behind, then found a more sheltered spot where we wiled away an hour reading. Josh was still enjoying the company of Anne Shirley, while I was perusing an online prospectus I’d earlier downloaded. Having inspired Dad to follow his academic dreams, there was something I was feeling inclined to look further into as well.

‘What are you so engrossed in?’ Josh asked, when he put the book down to take a drink.

‘Oh,’ I said, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun as I looked across at him. ‘It’s something I’m considering doing later in the year.’

That said, I would need to talk to Algy about it first and then make up my mind soon after that as September was suddenly not that far off.

‘I’m intrigued,’ Josh further said. ‘Tell me.’

‘All in good time,’ I said, putting my phone down. ‘How are you finding Anne?’

Josh didn’t push me to tell him and I was grateful for that. I knew there were things he was still ruminating over too, soit didn’t feel like secret-keeping. Rather, information gathering so that when the time came to talk, we’d have all the information we needed.

‘Delightful.’ He smiled. ‘Though it feels a little absurd that I came all the way to the UK to discover an American classic.’

‘Well,’ I said, moving closer to him, ‘at least you’ve found her now.’

‘And you, Daisy,’ he said, planting a sweet kiss on my lips, ‘thank goodness I found you too.’

‘I agree,’ I said, kissing him back. ‘You’ve made this summer far more satisfying than I initially thought it was going to be.’

He looked at me seriously and I drew away a little.

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