Page 82 of A Summer Scandal

He dug his wedding ring out of his pocket and dropped it in the nearest bin, watching it disappear amongst the sticky ice-lolly wrappers and empty drink bottles, then turned away and walked back through the archway onto the pier, leaving Ursula behind him on dry land.

The awards were drawing to a close in time for the firework display at ten to kick off the dancing. Violet felt euphoric even though she hadn’t touched a drop of champagne all evening, taking a glass from the tray when it was offered and discreetly tipping it into one of Linda’s potted plants when no one was looking.

She’d slipped away from the party for a breather, heading to one of the benches half way along the pier, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet up under her dress to watch the fireworks. The pier had made her proud tonight, it had been an evening of true celebration on many levels. She sighed, resting her head on her hand, looking back towards the birdcage. The fanfare of awards, the promise of new love for Lucy and Beau, a fond farewell for Monica.

‘Hey mermaid girl.’

She turned and found Cal sauntering towards her. He’d dispensed with his dinner jacket at some point and loosened his tie and top button, and his shirt-cuffs were folded back. Violet tried not to notice the way all of those things came together to create a devastatingly attractive man, one who looked at home in his own skin, a man rather than a boy, a man whose usually laughing eyes were serious tonight and who’d just taken a seat alongside her on the bench.

‘Hi,’ she said, wondering where Ursula was.

He laid his arm along the back of the bench, his fingertips close to her shoulder.

‘It’s gone well,’ he said, nodding towards the party a little way down the pier.

Night had fallen properly now, and Vi had charged Charlie with the task of switching on the fairy lights as soon as the fireworks were done as a signal to the band to kick off the dancing. He was thrilled to be trusted with the job, and they’d gone over the simple switch ceremony a couple of times before Violet had retreated to the bench to enjoy the fireworks and the big switch-on.

She nodded. ‘It has.’

What was she supposed to say? Congratulations on your nomination? She didn’t know if he’d won the award he’d been up for; she’d deliberately avoided it in case she had to watch Ursula make a show of congratulating her man.

‘Did you win?’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘Beaten to the trophy by a guy who makes sex saddles, would you believe.’

Her mouth twitched at the irony. ‘Sex saddles?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s pretty niche.’

‘You don’t say.’

They fell silent again.

‘Shouldn’t you get back to your wife?’ She couldn’t keep the barbed hurt from her voice.

‘Violet,’ he said, low and warm. ‘I’m sorry for how I’ve been since Ursula came back.’

She refused to look at him. ‘These things happen,’ she said, shrugging as if it didn’t matter.

‘No they don’t,’ he said. ‘Wives don’t usually disappear for years on end and then turn up again at the most inappropriate time possible.’

‘And I don’t usually let men lure me into the sea for sex and then go running back to their wives half an hour later, either,’ Vi said, biting even when she knew she should stay aloof.

He touched her shoulder and she flinched, making him sigh. ‘I can see that’s how it must have looked, but that isn’t how it was.’

Violet decided that she wasn’t up to talking about it any more tonight. ‘You know Cal, I scattered my grandmother’s ashes tonight, right here off the pier.’

She finally turned to look at him when he didn’t answer.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, and she couldn’t tell if he was apologising about the impromptu funeral or for his own behaviour.

She nodded. ‘I’ve decided to leave Swallow Beach,’ she said. ‘It’s not my place after all.’

Cal moved along the bench and took her hand, warm, firm, too firm for her to quickly pull it away. ‘Please don’t go.’

‘I have to,’ she said. She wasn’t saying it to score points. The moment she’d realised she was expecting a baby she knew; staying here was the wrong thing to do. She needed a fresh start, free of ghosts of the past and the complicated relationships she had with the people here.

‘Violet, listen to me,’ he said. ‘I screwed up. I’ve spent years thinking I was in love with Ursula, that our marriage still meant something to me. I’ve avoided any relationships that came anywhere close to love, because I thought I wasn’t capable because my heart was hers. But I didn’t count on you.’

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