Page 39 of Best Summer Ever

Josh laughed at that.

‘I wouldn’t call cutting the strings on your son’s beloved guitar as showing encouragement, would you?’

‘Please don’t tell me he really did that!’ I gasped.

‘Yes,’ Josh said, nodding, and I felt utterly horrified by the image which came with it. ‘He did.’

My heart broke for him. No wonder he’d been taken aback by everyone’s reaction in the pub if he’d only ever encountered such negativity to his playing before. His father sounded like a total monster. It was hardly any wonder that Josh was so happy to be staying in an entirely different country to him.

‘What a total shit,’ I couldn’t stop myself from saying. ‘Sorry.’

Dad and I might have had our differences in the past, but they hadn’t run to anything as intense as Josh had experienced.Or was that the benefit of time elapsed that was making me think that? I decided it was best not to ponder.

‘No, you’re fine.’ Josh smiled. ‘He’s certainly that.’

‘So, what gave you the courage to play last night?’

Given what he’d previously experienced, it was an incredibly brave thing to do.

‘George. He pointed out that no one around here knows me, so why not go for it? I couldn’t argue with his logic and thought I’d just do it and see what happened.’

‘Thank goodness for George.’ I grinned.

‘It had been so long since I’d played,’ Josh carried on. ‘Dad had completely knocked the enthusiasm for it out of me, but when I mentioned to George that I travelled with my guitar and was hoping to take some time to find myself while I was here…’

His words trailed off and his face flushed.

‘Go on,’ I said gently.

‘I know that sounds lame.’ He blushed. ‘A total cliché—’

‘No,’ I cut in vehemently. ‘It really doesn’t. You know, I’m a bit lost myself, so I get it. I really do. What did George say?’

I was discovering that he was full of wisdom.

‘Well, he pointed out that I hadn’t travelled all this way with my guitar not to play it and he was right.’

‘It must have been a cumbersome piece of luggage to haul about,’ I considered.

‘It was, but I truly had planned to play it at some point. George, however, and the serendipitous opportunity to per- form in the pub, rather sped the process along. He had me practising for hours and last night was the result. I’d shared with George my father’s antipathy and he in turn told mehe’d battled enough bullies in his life to know that succeed- ing was the best way to beat them. That man has given me more support in just a few days than my own father has in a lifetime.’

He sounded rather choked about that, which was understandable.

‘Well, hooray for George!’ I said light-heartedly, wanting to lift Josh’s mood again and as my mobile started to ring.

‘Hooray indeed,’ Josh agreed and handed me my phone from the coffee table.

‘It’s my friend Penny,’ I said, having looked at the screen. ‘I better answer. Hey, Pen, what’s—’

‘Oh, thank god you’ve picked up!’ she interrupted, sounding desperate. ‘I need your help, Daisy! Where are you?’ She bowled on before I could tell her. ‘I’m at the café and I can’t serve everyone. Can you come? Nick has got no one helping him at the fruit farm as usual, so he can’t leave Wynbrook and I don’t know what to do!’

‘It’s fine,’ I said, swinging my legs around and standing up. ‘Don’t panic. I’m actually really close and I’m on my way.’

‘Thank god!’ she said, letting out a breath. ‘That’s great. Please hurry up!’

‘What’s up?’ Josh asked, as I jumped up.

‘I really need to help Penny in the beach café,’ I told him as I looked down at the T-shirt I was wearing. ‘She’s completely swamped and it’s only her first day. I don’t suppose you’ve got a pair of shorts that might fit me, have you?’

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