Page 9 of Best Summer Ever

‘No, no,’ said Mum, with a flap of her hand. ‘You go. Nick will be thrilled to see you. I’ll just go up and check your bed’s got fresh linen on, so it’s ready for you tonight.’

‘I’ve already done it,’ I told her, grateful that I’d had the foresight to have, perhaps a little presumptuously, taken care of that. ‘It’s all sorted.’

‘Look,’ said Dad, roughly rubbing the back of his head, as I went to leave, ‘I know I didn’t do myself justice when you told us what’s happened, Daisy, and I’m sorry.’

Mum immediately looked close to tears again.

‘It was just such a shock,’ he carried on, ‘and I should have thought before I opened my mouth. I am upset that you and Laurence aren’t together anymore, but that didn’t give me the right to base what’s happened about that on your struggles to find a job and accuse you of being responsible for your relationship ending as a result.’

Dad had never been a demonstrative man, even less so since the argument we’d had the summer I left for university, but I rushed to hug him anyway. His words meant everything to me and I hoped the squeeze I gave him expressed that and perhaps took us a step closer towards the relationship we’d once had. He patted me awkwardly as I breathed in the smell coming from his shirt. It was a mixture of his familiar scent, warm compost and fabric softener. Earthy, homely and grounded.

‘You can take a few of my beers over to Nick’s if you like,’he said when I finally let him go. ‘I know he drinks the same bitter as me.’

‘Thank you, Dad,’ I managed to say croakily, knowing my face was every bit as flushed as his. ‘For everything.’

‘Go on then,’ he said. ‘Mum can show you where they are.’

‘I really am going to try to not be here for too long,’ I then told them both. ‘As soon as I can find somewhere to go, I’ll move out again. I mean that.’

‘Pulling pints isn’t going to pay much,’ said Dad. ‘So rather than waste money on rent, you might as well stay here and put a bit by, if you can.’

‘But only until I get my head together.’

‘For as long as it takes,’ said Dad, in another welcoming show of understanding. ‘We might not know exactly what’s gone on between you and Laurence, but you’re better off with us while you get over it.’

‘You’re right, Robin,’ agreed Mum.

I didn’t mar the moment by telling them I was already over it, because unsettlingly, I wasn’t as convinced as I had been that I was. While we had unloaded my car, I had picked over the last few months with Laurence and fallen to wondering if he’d been unfaithful to me before. Not that I supposed it mattered now, but the thought was humiliating.

‘Right, I’m off to shut the glasshouses up,’ Dad said as he headed off.

‘And we’ll sort those beers.’ Mum smiled, looking thrilled to have heard Dad’s apology.

As I walked to the edge of the estate and Nick’s cottage, I realised the homecoming I’d experienced had been entirely unexpected and I wasn’t talking about the reception I’d hadfrom Mum and Dad. When I was away from home, I always imagined life at Wynbrook carrying on exactly as it always had, with my parents doing what they always did at the same time and in the same order, but that had been naïve on my part.

So preoccupied with my own issues, I hadn’t realised they’d had their own. And the same went for Algy. I loved him like a grandfather and yet I hadn’t been properly in touch with him for months either. As I wandered along, carrying the beers in the jute bag Mum had found, I hoped Nick wasn’t ex- periencing some drama too. I didn’t think I could cope with more guilt about being so insensitive and out of touch.

‘Anyone home?’ I shouted into the hallway when I found the front door open.

There was a car I didn’t recognise parked outside the gate and too late I noticed a pair of women’s shoes kicked off on the hall runner – I hoped Nick wasn’t entertaining.

‘Daisy?’ came a familiar voice and I realised he did have female company, but not the romantic kind. ‘Oh my god!’ Penny gasped, as she poked her head out of the kitchen which was at the back of the house. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Pen!’ I laughed, rushing inside. ‘What areyoudoing here? Isn’t it a school night?’

‘Oh, don’t,’ she said, letting out a flustered breath. ‘There’s still a week to go until the summer holidays and I’m already at my wits’ end. Come in, come through. Nick’s just doing the hunter-gatherer thing and burning some meat on the barbecue. He’ll be as pleased to see you as I am.’

She did look worn out, but obviously, I didn’t say that.

‘And I have beer,’ I said, holding up the bag so the bottles clanked together.

‘In that case, he’ll be thrilled to see you!’

I followed her through the house and out into the back garden.

‘Look who I just found casing the joint,’ she said, stepping to one side to reveal me standing behind her on the patio.

‘Daisy!’ Nick gasped, looking every bit as amazed as Penny had. ‘I don’t believe it!’

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