Page 97 of Best Summer Ever

A faint tinkling came from inside the house.

‘That blasted bell,’ Mum tutted. She had set Algy up with the tea bell his great-grandmother had used, after he’d had his tumble, to save him having to shout for her and clearly hehadn’t kicked the habit of using it. ‘I’m banishing that. He’s more than capable of using his feet to come and find me now.’

‘I’ll come back later,’ I said numbly, desperate to get away. ‘I have to go.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ said Algy’s voice, suddenly close behind me, making me jump. ‘Because I’d just decided to use my feet to come and find you, Daisy.’

I sat in the conservatory opposite Algy, with my hands neatly folded in my lap and the world spinning around me, as Mum carried in a tray. Josh, smartly dressed in a navy polo shirt and with his hair tidier than I had ever seen it, jumped up to take it from her and with a slightly shaking hand, set it down on the table between us. I could see Mum was busting to ask a hundred questions, but Algy’s solemn demeanour didn’t suggest he was in the mood to chat and so she snatched up the offending bell and walked out again.

‘Daisy,’ Algy calmly said, ‘would you mind being mother?’

I poured coffee into each of the cups, but left out the cream, not wanting to presume preferences, even though I knew what both the men would like. I could tell Josh was looking at me intently when I passed him his cup, but I refused to meet his eye for fear of what I’d see reflected back at me. I was still feeling so wobbly; I wouldn’t trust myself not to cry or shout and those were the last reactions I wanted to display.

‘And now,’ Algy smiled at me, having added cream to his coffee and taken a sip, ‘I’d like to introduce you to my grandson. My grandson, who was taken from here more than two decades ago and who I hadn’t heard a word from since, until today.’

He sounded astounded rather than calm and my cup rattled so violently in its saucer that I put it down again, untouched. Josh didn’t say anything.

‘I know you know Josh already, because he’s told me,’ Algy carried on as if he wasn’t telling me anything particularly shocking at all. ‘I know now that you’ve known him since the day you came back to Wynbrook, Daisy, but what you haven’t been aware of—’

‘Is that he’s lied the whole time about who he really is,’ I snapped angrily.

No wonder Josh hadn’t wanted to visit the estate every time I had suggested it. He’d doubtless wanted to cherry-pick his moment instead and the information I’d supplied him with about Algy not being himself had obviously been deemed the ideal moment to appear. But for what purpose?

‘Not lying,’ Josh said quietly. ‘I’ve never lied. I just never—’

‘Told the truth,’ I cut in again, still furious.

Laurence’s earlier message might have been unwelcome, but it was nothing compared to Josh’s deception. I’d had him pinned quite simply as someone who was spending the summer in a quaint Norfolk village, enjoying the beach and having some fun, but I should have known there had to be more to his continued presence than that. It should have been glaringly obvious that there was some bigger reason than sunshine and a summer fling with a local to keep him here.

‘Perhaps if we gave you a little context, Daisy?’ Algy suggested.

‘No,’ I said, standing up abruptly. ‘I don’t want to hear it. I’ve already been made a fool of by one man this summer and I have absolutely no desire to allow it to happen again.’

As I walked out, I thought perhaps it was a little late forthat, but I was determined to do what I could to limit the damage to my heart that Algy’s bombshell had just inflicted.

‘What’s on earth’s going on?’ Dad demanded. ‘What’s happened?’

On autopilot, I hadn’t realised I’d walked back to the cottage, rather than to the summerhouse, but I found him and Mum in the kitchen and just after I walked in, Nick and Penny arrived as well.

‘What’s happened?’ Nick asked Mum, who had clearly wasted no time in putting some feelers out. ‘Your message sounded urgent, Janet. Is it Algy?’

‘In a way,’ I said, answering on Mum’s behalf as I flopped down on a chair. Every last atom of energy felt as if it had floated out of me. ‘His grandson has turned up.’

‘What?’ Mum gasped, her hands flying to her chest. ‘Is that who that was?’

I had assumed she’d been listening at the door after delivering the coffee, but apparently not.

‘They’re sitting in the conservatory drinking your coffee as we speak,’ I said, ‘and Algy appears to have welcomed him with open arms and without question.’

‘No way!’ Penny said, adding her surprise to Mum’s.

‘When did this happen?’ Dad commanded, sounding ready to rally the troops. ‘Are they up there alone?’

I was intrigued to know what was behind his and Mum’s reaction. I knew I had every right to be flabbergasted and upset as a result of Josh’s duplicity, but why did they both appear less than thrilled? Was Algy in some danger from this returning relative? Was he going to need protecting from the handsome American interloper?

‘Does he look like Algy?’ Nick asked, then added, ‘By which I mean, how can we be sure that this person really is who they say they are?’

‘I couldn’t see a family resemblance myself,’ I told him, as I wondered why Sam hadn’t questioned Josh’s name when he booked his cottage. ‘But you’ll recognise him.’

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