Page 29 of Best Summer Ever

‘I appreciate that you didn’t,’ I said, my breath and heart rate slowly recovering, in spite of the pulse-raising sight of him. ‘Are you going to swim now?’

‘That depends,’ he said, still looking down at me. ‘Do you feel like company?’

‘You know what,’ I said, holding out a hand so he could pull me up. ‘I would love company if you have time to spare.’

‘I have all the time in the world.’

‘In that case, come with me.’

We walked back up the beach to the hut and Josh waited outside while I quickly got dry and changed.

‘Are you a tea drinker?’ I asked, once I’d pulled on a cotton sundress and knickers and flung my towel and costume over the balustrade to dry in the sun.

‘I never used to be,’ he grinned, ‘but I’m acquiring a taste for it.’

‘Good.’ I smiled back. ‘How do you take it? Your tea, I mean?’

‘One sugar,’ he laughed, ‘and a splash of milk.’

He set up deckchairs while I made the brew and between us, we made short work of the makeshift picnic I’d packed up.

‘So,’ he said, ripping into a sharing bag of Kettle chips, ‘do you wanna talk about whatever it was that got you so riled up that you took to the sea to work off your temper?’

‘Absolutely not,’ I said, wrinkling my nose. ‘But thank you for asking. Anyway, how could you tell that’s what I was doing?’

‘Oh, I’ve been there myself,’ he said, tipping half of the bag of crisps into a melamine bowl and handing it to me. ‘Many times actually, so I recognised the signs. My power swimming has mostly been the result of family drama.’

I put one of the crisps in my mouth and let my tongue absorb the salty hit.

‘It was a sort of family drama that kicked my swimming marathon off, too,’ I told him, even though I hadn’t intended to mention it. ‘Well, Dad drama,’ I amended.

‘Yep,’ Josh said, nodding between mouthfuls. ‘I can totally relate to that. Most aggro in my life comes from my dad.’

‘Mine isn’t usually such a pain,’ I quickly responded. Josh didn’t need to know that Dad and I had had a major fallout in the past or that he had a tendency to let me surreptitiouslyknow what a let-down I was and how my life choices were a disappointment. In truth, I wasn’t convinced he always realised he was doing it. ‘But I’ve just ended a relationship and my dad, and my mum actually, thought the world of the guy. They’re having a hard time accepting it’s over, which led to Dad making a dubious decision and doing something infuriating as a result.’

So much for banishing all thoughts of Laurence! I’d made the vow to forget about him just minutes ago.

‘Oh, right,’ said Josh, taking a moment to consider what I’d said. ‘So, they’re more heartbroken about the break-up than you are?’

‘I’m not heartbroken at all,’ I was quick to answer. ‘It was time to end it and I’m relieved to be out of it, even if it has meant I’ve had to move back in with my parents. Something no twenty-eight-year-old generally wants to have to do.’

‘Maybe not,’ Josh nodded, looking straight at me, ‘but some good has come of it, hasn’t it?’

‘It has?’ I innocently asked, trying to hide my smile, as I twigged what he was getting at. ‘Like what?’

‘Well,’ he said, looking away again as his own lips quirked into a grin, ‘let’s see. You have access to this beautiful beach to walk on, a hut to lounge in and the sea to swim in for the whole of the summer.’

‘That’s true.’ I nodded, playing along.

‘You’ve just about learned how to pull a pint, which opens up a whole employment sector for you on a global scale should you decide to head overseas in the fall.’

‘Also, true,’ I agreed, my heart fluttering over how he said fall instead of autumn. On his lips, the word sounded so romantic. ‘Anything else?’ I blinked.

‘Hmm…’ he said, scratching his head and drawing the sound out, ‘I can’t think of anything else just at the moment…’

‘Me neither,’ I said with a heavy sigh, as I looked towards the sea and pretended I was as mystified as he was as to what other good thing my timely arrival at home could be associated with. ‘If that’s all the summer has going for it, it’s going to be the worst one ever,’ I huffed, biting hard on my lip to stop myself from laughing.

‘I feel sorry for you,’ he said very seriously and when I looked at him, I could see he was also trying to hold back a laugh. ‘I propose a toast to combatting the feeling.’ He picked up his mug, which was almost as empty as mine. ‘To the worst summer ever and doing whatever it takes to turn it into the best.’ He did then laugh as I bashed my mug against his.

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