Page 76 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
‘Sure.’ Tom heads towards the stairs. ‘Any time you want to pop down to the pub again you just let me know.’
‘I’ll probably give it a miss for a while, if that’s all right with you. I think I’ve downed enough alcohol to last me a few weeks.’
Tom simply nods, then he turns and lifts his hand briefly, before heading quickly down the stairs.
I put my glass down on the table and sigh.Looks like I’ve scared another one off. Why does this always happen? I meet a perfectly nice guy and then when they start to show an interest I pull on my protective armour and they’re forced to leave.
It doesn’t matter what they do, I always find a reason to pick a fight, and this time Charlie had been the excuse I needed to push Tom away.
Tom wasn’t really having a go at Charlie, I knew that deep down, but made to choose between my son and anyone else, there was no contest. Charlie will always come first in my life. That’s something that will never change, whatever we’re doing and wherever we’re living.
Twenty-eight
The rest of the weekend is a quiet one – well, I choose to make it quiet so I can recover from my hangover.
‘How are you feeling this morning?’ Benji asks me on Monday, when I’ve spent most of Sunday in the tower, only venturing out for a walk with Charlie and Chester along the long sandy beach. The walk had certainly blown away a few cobwebs – the weather on Sunday had been gusty and filled with heavy showers, so to get out into the bracing sea air had been a welcome escape for a few minutes, before we’d had to run back home as yet another downpour had dispensed from the dark clouds above us.
‘Much better, thanks,’ I tell him as I pause on my way to the stables. ‘Why does it take so long these days to recover from alcohol? I’m sure it never took this long in my twenties.’
‘Ah, that would be one of the joys of ageing,’ Benji tells me, smiling. ‘That and wrinkles, piles and dodgy knees!’
I laugh. ‘Enough! I’m notthatbad yet.’
‘Where are you off to this morning?’ Benji asks. ‘You look like you mean business wherever you’re going. You were marching across this courtyard with quite the look of determination on your face.’
‘The stables. I’m meeting Bill there. Apparently he’s found out what the problem might be.’
‘You mean the problem that Jasper warned you about?’
I love the fact Benji didn’t question anything that Charlie and I had told him about the ghosts – unlike Tom.
I hadn’t seen Tom since we’d parted on slightly awkward terms on Saturday afternoon. Apparently he’d gone off to visit someone, Dorothy told me when questioned, and he’d be back today.
‘Yes, that problem.’
‘So he was right, then?’
I shrug. ‘I guess I’ll find out in a moment.’
‘Well, good luck,’ Benji says, patting me on the shoulder. ‘I get the feeling you might need it.’
‘Bill,’ I say as I find Bill standing in the new tea room looking up at the ceiling. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Ah, morning, Miss Amelia,’ Bill says, turning around to greet me. ‘And how are you today?’
I’m sure he’s heard all about my exploits at the pub, but I pretend to be unaware the precursor of my recent hangover is likely what he’s referring to.
‘Wonderful, thank you, Bill. So what’s the problem here, then?’ I ask, cutting to the chase. ‘I’m assuming you’ve found a problem?’
‘First, I can only apologise, miss,’ Bill says, looking ashamed, and I assume he’s talking about the problem he’s found. ‘Ed should never have mixed you up in his nonsense on Saturday morning.’
‘It’s fine, Bill, really,’ I begin, but Bill continues.
‘No, miss; he’s always been a bit of a loose cannon that one. I don’t know how he did it, but he got all the others believing in his gibberish too.’
‘But—’ I try again, keen for Ed not to take the blame for this.
‘However,’ Bill continues, ‘it’s just as well you phoned me and asked me to come and check on the building; it turns out we do have something of a problem.’
