Chapter 16
That night, as I drifted off into a thoroughly satisfying sleep, I was feeling far more content than I had been when Sam had confessed that he’d told Mum and Dad that I was no longer in his employ.
However, I didn’t feel anywhere near as happy when I woke just before dawn and had to leave the cosiness of the bed to pad to the bathroom in search of painkillers to soothe my annoyingly thumping head and found that my feet still ached from the hours spent working in the café. The forecast was set for another wonderfully sunny day and I knew I would enjoy working with Penny all the more if I was wearing more supportive shoes. Unfortunately, however, those were all back at Wynbrook.
There was no point in asking Pen to lend me a pair because we wore different sizes, so I scribbled Josh a note, then let myself out of the cottage and drove quickly back to Mum and Dad’s. My parents were both early risers, irrespective of whether or not they were heading to work and I knew I had a tight turnaround if I wanted to creep in, grab what I needed and dash out again before they were up.
‘Daisy,’ said Dad, as I fumbled to unlock the cottage door just as he opened it from the inside.
He was wearing his standard summer work gear, even though it was Sunday and still ridiculously early and he was also sporting a deep frown.
‘Dad!’ I gasped, my free hand flying to my chest. ‘You made me jump.’
‘Is everything all right?’ he asked. ‘Surely you aren’t just getting in.’
‘In and out, actually,’ I told him as Mum appeared in the doorway from the hall, wrapped in a cotton dressing gown. ‘I’ve just come back to collect something I’m going to need today.’
‘Well,’ he said gruffly, ‘if you can spare us a minute, and I rather think you can, then you’d better sit down. Your mum and I need to talk to you.’
His tone brooked no refusal and I knew I was trapped.
‘Yes,’ said Mum, as she filled the kettle and further compounded the ensnared feeling. ‘Do sit down, Daisy. This won’t take long.’
The following few minutes seemed to last at least an hour and words such as irresponsible and disappointing littered the one-sided conversation, as did phrases such as we had a feeling it wouldn’t last and you can’t just swan about for the next few months . If the intention was to make me feel like I was a naughty child rather than an adult, then it was pretty much mission accomplished and I found myself wishing I’d never driven over the cattlegrid and on to the Wynbrook Estate those couple of weeks ago.
I let a silence fall once Mum and Dad had finally run out of steam. The kettle had long since come to the boil, and I felt that I was about to, as well.
‘So, is that everything then?’ I eventually asked, making the greatest effort to keep my tone neutral. ‘Because I only came back to pick up a pair of shoes. The ones I wore yesterday when I started my new job helping Penny in the café weren’t up to all those hours on my feet, so I thought I’d switch them for something different today. I have a feeling it’s going to be busy again.’
When Josh had suggested that I put a positive spin on the few days’ work I had secured with Penny, I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. However, having just been verbally assaulted and made to feel like the let-down daughter I obviously was, I had reached for his suggestion and wrung the life out of it. The expression on both my parents’ faces assuaged any guilt I might have felt about employing the deception and I felt rather smug.
‘Penny was struggling with the summer footfall in the café,’ I continued, by way of a more detailed explanation, ‘and as I know how much these few weeks working there mean to her, I thought I’d give her a hand. It’s hard work and long days, so I couldn’t manage working in the pub too. Sam had someone else on hand to take my place so I thought I’d be better off helping my friend. The harder work is worth taking on in this instance, isn’t it?’
I left the question hanging and went to retrieve the pair of shoes I needed and another back-up pair, just in case. I also stuffed some clean clothes and toiletries into a bag so I wouldn’t have to come back to the cottage until the end of Tuesday at the earliest. Assuming Josh was willing to accommodate me for that long. If he wasn’t or couldn’t, then I was certain Penny’s sofa would.
‘We didn’t know,’ Mum said, when I went back downstairs again. ‘We didn’t know you were working in the café.’
‘Of course you didn’t,’ I smiled, ‘I hadn’t had the chance to tell you and Sam didn’t mention it because he didn’t know when you had lunch in the pub either. What did you have, by the way? The crab dishes are always popular.’
I didn’t wait for them to answer because they both still looked so surprised, they probably couldn’t have formulated a response if their lives depended on it.
‘Right then,’ I said. ‘I’d better get off. I won’t be back tonight or tomorrow, but I’ll keep in touch with Algy about the cat camera. Bye!’
I purposefully left the back door open and practically skipped down the path to my car. It felt good to have the upper hand for once, even if that hand hadn’t been honestly dealt.
Just as I had known it would be, Sunday was bonkers busy, even more bonkers busy than Saturday had been. I had thought I was going to hate working through another hectic day, but actually the constant queue and unrelenting requests for cold drinks, lollies and ice creams left me no opportunity to dwell on what I’d said to Mum and Dad.
I’d barely pulled into a parking space in the village after our conversation before the guilt had kicked in about misleading them. I knew they’d said some pretty hurtful things to me, but it didn’t follow that I then had to be deceitful as a result, did it? I could have chosen a more righteous path, but I’d walked along the easy one instead, even though ultimately it had given me scant satisfaction.
‘Yay!’ said Penny, as she punched the air in triumph after she’d switched the open sign to closed early Sunday evening and firmly turned the key in the lock. ‘We did it!’
‘That we did,’ I agreed, as I slumped onto a chair and slid my shoes off. ‘I’m not quite sure how, but we made it.’
‘And we’re going to do it all again tomorrow,’ she beamed. ‘Though not for quite so long.’
‘You’re mad,’ I said, as someone knocked loudly on the door and I wondered why on earth she was opening the café on days when it would usually be closed, even if it was only going to be for a few hours. Her new dream job was nothing like mine. Not that I had yet worked out what mine was, of course. ‘Totally cuckoo, Pen. Do you know that?’
‘Yep!’ she laughed, still looking deliriously happy as she went to open the door again.
‘Don’t let them in,’ I admonished. ‘We’ve only just closed!’
She ignored me and opened the door and I was pleased she had because it was Josh and Nick – Nick was carrying a basket and blankets and Josh had a huge cool bag and his guitar slung over his shoulder.
‘Our saviours,’ I praised, realising that yet again, I hadn’t eaten properly for almost the entire day.
‘We thought you might be hungry,’ Nick said. ‘Even though you’re working in a café.’
‘Nick thought you might be hungry,’ said Josh, unwilling to accept the credit for the food Nick had found the time to prepare, even though he’d been working too. ‘I thought you might be in the mood for some music.’
I was thrilled that he was keen to carry on playing his guitar now he’d had the benefit of George’s encouragement and the success of performing in the pub.
‘Yes, to both,’ said Penny, looking thrilled. ‘Thanks guys.’
‘And I thought you might also fancy a swim,’ Josh said to me. ‘So I snuck into the beach hut and picked up the costume and towel you left there a few days ago, Daisy.’
‘That,’ I said, holding out my hand for the costume so I could get changed in the café loos, ‘was an inspired idea.’
Josh kissed me lightly on the lips and even though I was exhausted, I felt my libido spring into life.
‘And I thought that you, Penny,’ said Nick, his voice trembling a little for some reason as he reached into the basket he had put down and pulled something out, ‘might like this…’
He handed Penny a brown paper-wrapped parcel. It was tied with a blue velvet ribbon. She looked from the parcel to him and back again.
‘I hope it’s the right one.’ He swallowed. ‘I think it is. I went to pick it up after work last night.’
‘I thought you had a date last night,’ I said, releasing Josh and then realising that I might have just ruined what had the potential to be a romantic moment.
Some matchmaker I was…
‘I did.’ Nick grinned. ‘Well, not a date date. I did meet someone, but only to get this.’ He nodded at the parcel Penny was holding. ‘I’ve had a real job tracking it down and then there were some very specific details to check before I committed to buying it.’
Penny gasped and her eyes widened as she quickly tugged at the ribbon and then pulled away the paper.
‘Oh, Nick,’ she sobbed, and began to properly cry.
In her hands was a blue hardback book. She pulled in a ragged breath and composed herself a little before opening it.
‘This is it,’ she sobbed again. ‘This is the one.’
Josh looked questioningly at me, but I had no idea what the significance of the book was or even what it was about.
‘And there was this too,’ Nick said, sounding as choked as Penny as he pulled another book out of the basket, unwrapped this time.
All of the colour drained from Penny’s face as she took it and I honestly thought she might pass out.
‘It can’t be,’ she murmured, putting the hardback down on a table and turning her attention to its dog-eared companion. I could see that one was so packed full of loose bits of paper it could barely be closed. ‘How is this even possible?’
She looked at Nick and Nick looked at her and then suddenly she stepped forward and kissed him on the lips. She kissed him hard and long, to be precise, and Nick willingly reciprocated and I felt so happy I thought my heart was going to burst right out of my chest. Who knew a couple of tatty-looking books could have such an emotional impact?
Josh started to quietly edge towards the door and I grabbed the blankets and silently followed him. We slipped out of the café and didn’t speak until we were down on the sand, for fear of the pair hearing us and ending the kiss I had so longed for them to share.
‘What,’ whispered Josh, even though we were easily far enough away for them not to catch our conversation, ‘was that all about?’
‘I have absolutely no idea,’ I smiled up at him and only then realised that my eyes were full of tears, ‘but that kiss has been years in the making. I had honestly begun to think it was never going to happen.’
‘Well, I could see they were made for each other the first time I met them,’ Josh grinned, ‘but I didn’t think it was my place to mention it.’
‘I used to feel that way too,’ I confessed, ‘but I have to admit, it had been my intention to speak up and somehow try to get them together this summer.’
‘But those two books seem to have done the work for you.’ Josh smiled.
‘Apparently so.’ I smiled back.
‘And they’re really nothing to do with you?’
‘No,’ I said, shaking my head, ‘they’re not. They’re all Nick and they obviously mean something very special to Penny given her reaction to receiving them.’
We giggled about that.
‘So,’ said Josh, ‘do you fancy a swim?’
‘I do,’ I told him. ‘But I need to get changed somewhere first and have something to eat. I haven’t had a proper bite since breakfast.’
‘Nick has got most of the food in the basket,’ Josh groaned. ‘You do suppose they’ll come out at some point, don’t you?’
‘Well, let’s put it this way,’ I said as my tummy rumbled loudly, ‘if they don’t, then I’ll be going back in.’
We didn’t have to wait many minutes for our friends to appear and in the meantime, I managed to wriggle into my swimming costume hidden under one of the blankets. I couldn’t stop grinning as I watched Penny and Nick walk over to where Josh and I were sitting. They were holding hands and looking happier than I’d ever seen them.
‘I don’t know what to ask first,’ I laughed, looking at the pair of them.
‘I think you should start with the significance of the books,’ suggested Josh. ‘Given your reaction, I’m guessing they’re something rather special, Penny.’
‘They certainly are,’ she beamed. ‘And that’s why I’ve left them in the café for now. Absolutely no sand allowed, even though I’m desperate to look through them.’
‘So, tell us then,’ I said, patting a space next to me on the blanket, ‘what are they?’
While we gorged ourselves on the delicious picnic Nick had prepared, Penny explained why she’d been so overwhelmed by what she’d just been given.
‘I’ve been trying to find that particular copy of Mrs Beeton’s Family Cookery for a couple of years,’ she explained. ‘It belonged to my great-grandmother and has a very special dedication in the front. I’ve been searching high and low for it since it was lost during a house clearance organised by my mum. Unfortunately, the book wasn’t missed for a while, and in that time, it disappeared without trace.’
‘And Penny told you about this?’ I asked Nick.
I’d never had him down as a romantic before, but knowing how much Penny loved to cook and what that book must have meant to her, there was no other word to describe his actions.
‘Yes,’ he said, looking at Penny with unadulterated love. ‘She told me a while ago that she was looking for it and I secretly joined in the search too.’
‘Oh, Nick,’ I said, feeling teary again.
‘And what was the other book?’ Josh asked, smiling at my reaction to the romantic gesture. ‘The tatty one with the pages falling out.’
‘That,’ said Penny, sounding even more emotional, ‘is a handwritten recipe book that has been passed down my family line for generations. It disappeared with the Mrs Beeton and I had absolutely no hope that it had survived. I hadn’t even considered trying to find it.’
‘But I had.’ Nick smiled.
‘And you found it.’ Penny smiled back, leaning over to kiss him again. ‘Incredibly, the two were still together.’
Out of every item in the world that had ever come into Penny’s orbit, I knew that book must have meant the most. She’d never mentioned the Mrs Beeton to me, but I could remember her talking about the family recipe book and the dishes her nan and then her mum had made out of it. She’d be able to make them now too.
As delighted as I was that she now had the books back, I was also feeling sad that she hadn’t talked to me about her search. It was another reminder of how we’d grown apart during the last couple of years. I knew that Laurence had done nothing to encourage me to nurture my childhood friendships, but I couldn’t blame him for us losing touch because I had been the one who had ultimately allowed it to happen.
Thankfully Josh began to strum softly on his guitar at that moment and my mind was saved from taking a more maudlin turn.
‘Come on, Penny,’ said Nick, pulling her to her feet, ‘I’ve waited a long time to do this.’
I sat as close to Josh as I could get while he played and my friends slowly danced around us. My homecoming might not have been without its hiccups, but the things that really mattered were playing out perfectly.
Penny was of little use the next day and it was just as well the café was opening later in the morning as she didn’t show her face until just before ten. I had been waiting at least half an hour for her to show, but I didn’t mind because Josh had walked down to the beach with me and we had chatted while we waited for her to turn up.
Given the increasingly intense depth of my relationship with him and the meaningful conversations we had enjoyed as a result, it seemed utterly impossible that I’d only known him for two weeks, two weeks exactly, to be precise.
‘Do you realise it’s two weeks today since you threw yourself in front of my car?’ I nudged him before Penny arrived.
‘I can’t believe that,’ he gasped, but not disputing the fact that he had been the one responsible for the near-disastrous way our paths had first crossed. ‘Just two weeks. Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ I nodded, nuzzling into his tanned neck. ‘Feels more like two years, doesn’t it?’
He pulled away and looked at me.
‘I agree,’ he said more seriously than I would have expected, ‘it does feel like we’ve known each other far longer, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? It feels like a good thing for me, but—’
‘Oh, it’s a good thing,’ I interrupted, before he got himself into a tizz and started wondering if I was getting bored with having him around. ‘A very good thing.’
‘That’s all right then,’ he said, kissing me. ‘I’d hate to think you were considering moving on.’
That was the last thing I was thinking about. Well, where he was concerned anyway.
‘The only bad thing is that I still haven’t introduced you to Algy,’ I pondered. ‘And I would love you to meet him.’
I had a feeling they’d really like each other, but I couldn’t see how I would be able to instigate an introduction without my parents getting wind of the fact that my current beau had been to Wynbrook and not been introduced to them.
I didn’t want Josh to have to endure meeting either of them now, even though Dad had been impressed that he was a Wynbrook strawberry fan. My parents had done nothing to hide their disappointment about my job situation so they doubtless wouldn’t hold off from expressing whatever opinion they had really formed about my current relationship.
I just knew that my summer fling was being as frowned upon as everything else now and that’s what Josh was, wasn’t he? A summer fling…
‘Sorry, I’m late!’ called Penny as she appeared on the path.
Her hair was all over the place and her cheeks were flushed as a result of more than sun exposure.
‘You don’t sound sorry,’ I teased and Josh gave me a nudge.
‘You’re right,’ she beamed, when she reached us. ‘I’m not sorry at all.’
‘I take it you and Nick had an entertaining evening?’ I cajolingly asked.
‘Honestly, Daisy,’ Penny tutted. ‘A lady never talks about her… exploits.’
‘I told you about mine,’ I reminded her and grinned at Josh who raised his eyebrows.
‘Yes,’ giggled Penny, ‘but you’re not a lady.’
I was about to defend myself when my phone started to ring.
‘It’s Algy,’ I said, standing up. ‘I better answer. It might be cat business.’
‘Saved by the bell.’ Penny winked at Josh, who also laughed.
As it turned out, there was no cat business that day or the day after (Algy had just wanted to chat), and I was able to focus solely on working in the café and spending time with Josh, Penny and Nick in the evenings. Both days were halcyon and I refused to think about what I was going to do when the bubble burst. I hadn’t been able to find another job in the vicinity to apply for and heading home and facing the music looked like the only probable option.
‘You could always move in with me for the rest of the summer,’ Josh kindly offered as the time to close the café on Tuesday came around unexpectedly fast.
There had been enough customers to justify Penny opening on both days, but she’d also had time to sit and pore over the beloved books Nick had so winningly tracked down. She was absolutely in her element and I could already tell that returning to school in September was going to be a hard ask.
‘I’d more than happily keep you,’ Josh seductively added.
‘That,’ I said, kissing the end of his nose, ‘sounds very much like an indecent proposal.’ Josh grinned, but didn’t refute what I’d said. ‘And whatever your motives, I couldn’t possibly accept.’
‘I had a feeling you’d say that.’
He sounded rather disappointed.
‘Your motives were nefarious, weren’t they?’ I then gasped.
‘Totally.’
‘Damn,’ I groaned. ‘Is it too late to change my mind?’
‘Yep,’ he said, as Penny locked the café door and pulled down the blind. ‘That ship has now pulled up its anchor and set sail.’
‘In that case,’ I sighed, ‘I suppose I’d better go home and face the music, hadn’t I?’