Page 75 of Best Summer Ever

My heart felt even more leaden when he said that.

‘Why didn’t you tell us Penny had taken on the Smith twins?’ Mum frowned, as she dried her hands and gave Dad a look. I wondered if she had planned a more subtle run-up to this awkward conversation. ‘When we spoke on Sunday, you made out that you were going to be working for her for the whole of the summer.’

‘Because when I finished working in the pub,’ I told them both, ‘I thought I was going to be. I had no idea then that Penny had already made other arrangements to see her through her time running the café for Sophie.’

‘But you did know when you came home to pick up your shoes and things, didn’t you?’ Dad surmised and I nodded. ‘So, why did you lie?’

I could feel my frustration starting to bubble again and the excess of it spilt over into my next words.

‘If you take just a minute to think about how you and Mum talked to me during that brief visit, Dad,’ I said bluntly, ‘then you’ll be able to guess why. You made me feel two inches tall and talked to me exactly like you used to. Only this time, you were putting in your two pennies worth as well, Mum.’

In the past, Mum had mostly kept out of the rows I’d had with Dad. She had taken on the role of peacekeeper, but shehadn’t been particularly proficient at it and last Sunday, she had abandoned it altogether.

‘We’re just—’ she started to say.

‘Worried,’ I snapped. ‘I know. Don’t you think I’m worried too? I’ve very little to show for my life thus far and having the pair of you constantly reminding me of the fact isn’t making me feel any better about it.’

‘We just want you to—’ Mum tried again.

‘Get my act together,’ I reeled off. ‘Toe the line. Settle down. Succeed… You know, I think I’ll drive back to Wynmouth, after all.’

I scooped my bag back up again.

‘No, don’t,’ said Dad, in a tone that didn’t exactly match his words. ‘Don’t do that.’

‘Please stay,’ Mum added more kindly.

She looked keener to have me than he did and I stared at her for a long moment. I wondered if she was aware how betrayed I’d felt that she’d joined nagging forces with Dad.

‘All right,’ I sighed, crossing the room in three strides. ‘I’ll have an early night then.’

‘Don’t you want any dinner?’ Mum called after me.

‘No, thanks.’

I resisted the urge to stomp up the stairs and blinked back the tears I was determined not to shed. However, when I opened my bedroom door, it was impossible to stop a few of them from falling. My breath caught in my throat as I became seduced by the sight in front of me and enveloped in the scent.

Every inch of space on the chest of drawers, shelves and windowsills was filled with jam jars, vases and jugs packed full of the sort of blooms that could only have come from Algy’scut-flower garden. There was a William Morris notecard on my pillow and written on the back of it in Algy’s flamboyant handwriting were the words:

If you won’t come to the garden, Daisy, then I’ll bring the garden to you!

With love, A x

‘Oh, Algy,’ I sniffed, tenderly stroking the petals of a sweet pea on my bedside table, before bending to further draw in its beautiful scent. ‘Will you ever stop trying?’

I didn’t expect to nod off, but that night I had one of the best sleeps I’d had in a long time. I started the day not wanting to put it down to the fact that my bedroom was filled with flowers, but the pleasure that the sight and smell of them gave me within just a few seconds of opening my eyes, soon made me change my mind.

‘Where’s Dad?’ I asked Mum, when I couldn’t put off going down for a cup of tea any longer. ‘Watering already?’

‘No,’ said Mum, as she added another cup and saucer to the table. ‘He’s away for the day.’

‘Away?’

Dad rarely left the estate in the summer months and never on a weekday.

‘He’s visiting a couple of machinery showrooms to try and strike a deal for a new ride-on,’ Mum explained. ‘The old one is totally on its last legs and he’s told Algy he can’t put off buying another one until the autumn.’

I was relieved Dad wasn’t at home. I didn’t much want tostart the day listening to loaded comments about him being surprised to see me up so early when I had nowhere to go and nothing to do.

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