Page 70 of Best Summer Ever

I threw Sam a harsh look and he pulled an apologetic face.

‘I didn’t think,’ he said, looking shamefaced. ‘It was busy in here and I just blurted it out before I realised that if he was asking when you’d be in, then he didn’t know that you wouldn’t be.’

‘Well,’ I said, as I plunged my hands into my hair, ‘he certainly knows now.’

‘Sorry,’ Sam apologised. ‘If I’d known at the time, I would have said they’d find you working in the café instead.’

I’d told Sam where I had switched working to when Josh and I arrived that evening, though not for how long, so he hadn’t known I’d found something else when he’d talked to Dad at lunchtime.

‘Let’s not have that conversation,’ I said, holding up a hand. ‘I can stay at yours tonight, can’t I?’ I asked Josh as I clutched his arm, even though we’d already discussed it earlier.

‘Absolutely,’ he laughed, then lowered his voice, so no one else could hear. ‘Given your reaction to Sam’s confession, I’m guessing your parents aren’t going to be pleased about you quitting your job here?’

‘No,’ I sighed, ‘they won’t be and I can’t even tell them it’s okay because I’m going to be working in the café for the rest of the summer now, can I?’

‘Well,’ Josh suggested, ‘you could just be a bit vague. I mean, you’re going to be working there until the middle of next week, aren’t you? So, technically you could buy yourself a few days’ grace by just telling them you’re working with Penny now. You don’thaveto supply them with an end dateand in the meantime, you can keep looking for something else.’

I bit my lip and considered what he’d just said.

‘That might work,’ I eventually agreed. ‘That might actually work. Though I’m not sure that I like this sneaky side of you, Josh.’ I smiled. ‘Even if it has potentially got me temporarily out of a tight spot.’

‘It’s not sneaky,’ he said, pretending to be aghast. ‘I’m the king of spin. If I can make something positive out of a difficult situation then I’m going to utilise the heck out of it.’

‘In that case,’ I said, leaning into him, ‘please, utilise away.’

Chapter 16

That night, as I drifted off into a thoroughly satisfying sleep, I was feeling far more content than I had been when Sam had confessed that he’d told Mum and Dad that I was no longer in his employ.

However, I didn’t feel anywhere near as happy when I woke just before dawn and had to leave the cosiness of the bed to pad to the bathroom in search of painkillers to soothe my annoyingly thumping head and found that my feet still ached from the hours spent working in the café. The forecast was set for another wonderfully sunny day and I knew I would enjoy working with Penny all the more if I was wearing more supportive shoes. Unfortunately, however, those were all back at Wynbrook.

There was no point in asking Pen to lend me a pair because we wore different sizes, so I scribbled Josh a note, then let myself out of the cottage and drove quickly back to Mum and Dad’s. My parents were both early risers, irrespective of whether or not they were heading to work and I knew I had a tight turnaround if I wanted to creep in, grab what I needed and dash out again before they were up.

‘Daisy,’ said Dad, as I fumbled to unlock the cottage door just as he opened it from the inside.

He was wearing his standard summer work gear, even though it was Sunday and still ridiculously earlyandhe was also sporting a deep frown.

‘Dad!’ I gasped, my free hand flying to my chest. ‘You made me jump.’

‘Is everything all right?’ he asked. ‘Surely you aren’t just getting in.’

‘In and out, actually,’ I told him as Mum appeared in the doorway from the hall, wrapped in a cotton dressing gown. ‘I’ve just come back to collect something I’m going to need today.’

‘Well,’ he said gruffly, ‘if you can spare us a minute, and I rather think you can, then you’d better sit down. Your mum and I need to talk to you.’

His tone brooked no refusal and I knew I was trapped.

‘Yes,’ said Mum, as she filled the kettle and further compounded the ensnared feeling. ‘Do sit down, Daisy. This won’t take long.’

The following few minutes seemed to last at least an hour and words such asirresponsibleanddisappointinglittered the one-sided conversation, as did phrases such aswe had a feeling it wouldn’t lastandyou can’t just swan about for the next few months. If the intention was to make me feel like I was a naughty child rather than an adult, then it was pretty much mission accomplished and I found myself wishing I’d never driven over the cattlegrid and on to the Wynbrook Estate those couple of weeks ago.

I let a silence fall once Mum and Dad had finally run out of steam. The kettle had long since come to the boil, and I felt that I was about to, as well.

‘So, is that everything then?’ I eventually asked, making thegreatest effort to keep my tone neutral. ‘Because I only came back to pick up a pair of shoes. The ones I wore yesterday when I started my new job helping Penny in the café weren’t up to all those hours on my feet, so I thought I’d switch them for something different today. I have a feeling it’s going to be busy again.’

When Josh had suggested that I put a positive spin on the few days’ work I had secured with Penny, I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. However, having just been verbally assaulted and made to feel like the let-down daughter I obviously was, I had reached for his suggestion and wrung the life out of it. The expression on both my parents’ faces assuaged any guilt I might have felt about employing the deception and I felt rather smug.

‘Penny was struggling with the summer footfall in the café,’ I continued, by way of a more detailed explanation, ‘and as I know how much these few weeks working there mean to her, I thought I’d give her a hand. It’s hard work and long days, so I couldn’t manage working in the pub too. Sam had someone else on hand to take my place so I thought I’d be better off helping my friend. The harder work is worth taking on in this instance, isn’t it?’

---