Chapter 24
Wynbrook Blooms was busy for the whole day, which was a blessing because it went some way to stopping me getting too distracted by the things Josh had said on the beach that related to me. True, there were a couple of times that I caught myself staring at him rather than focusing on the job in hand, because of course I’d taken back my statement on the beach that he shouldn’t work with me and then given him a lift to Wynbrook, but for the most part, I managed to carry on unhindered.
The best part of the day was when Algy arrived with a lunchtime picnic basket for us all to share. It didn’t take more than a minute to see him and Josh together to know the pair had bonded and I felt my heart further open when I thought about the more secure future of Wynbrook and the direction they might together decide to take the estate in.
I had even fallen to thinking about the future myself, in particular that of Wynbrook Blooms and how it could be turned into a much larger venture, assuming I could persuade the current and future owners to think beyond the parameters of the current set-up. Certainly, by the end of our day together in the garden, there was no doubt in my mind that Josh’s future lay with the estate in some capacity or other.
Unfortunately, however, I didn’t think that everyone in my life was yet as convinced about Josh as I was, and listening to the conversation at the impromptu barbecue gathering at Nick’s place on Saturday night was further proof of that.
‘He was all over the house when he helped me,’ I heard Mum disapprovingly telling Penny. ‘In and out of all the rooms as if he owned the place.’
Having spent such a successful day with me in the garden on Wednesday, Algy had then made a point of insisting that both Mum and Dad should give Josh taster hours over the next couple of days and that day, Saturday, he’d been with Nick on the fruit farm.
Nick hadn’t needed anything like the coaxing my parents had had and he had also invited Josh to the barbecue. It transpired, however, that Josh had already arranged to spend the evening with Algy, talking and looking through some photos, so he wasn’t available to quell the naysayers himself. Not that Mum would likely have been so forthright with her opinions had he been present, I was certain.
‘Given that you’d asked him to do the vacuuming, Janet,’ Penny mildly pointed out, ‘it would have been impossible for him not to be all over the house, wouldn’t it?’
Mum ignored that and Penny rolled her eyes at me. She was looking radiant, I noticed. Running the busy café and being engaged clearly suited her.
‘And did you know that Algy offered him the use of one of his precious cars as well?’ Mum then tutted. ‘I heard him tell Josh he could have his pick of the lot.’
‘And what did Josh choose from out of the garages, Mum?’ I asked her, with far less grace than Penny had managed because I knew the answer.
‘That tatty old bike,’ said Nick in disbelief before Mum could respond. ‘Out of the Bentley, the Spider and that gorgeous little Mini, he took that mangled, ancient bike!’
That was how Josh was currently getting between Wynbrook and Wynmouth every day. I didn’t much like the thought of him negotiating the narrow lanes on two wobbly wheels, especially given the amount of tourist traffic but, having just listened to Mum, I could understand why he hadn’t perhaps opted for four wheels. Turning up in the village driving any one of Algy’s pristine and valuable cars would have caused further tongue-wagging and of course, I also knew that Josh was wary about driving on what he termed the wrong side of the road.
‘How have you got on working with him today, Nick?’ I asked, keen to find a true and trusted Josh ally among the gathering.
‘Great,’ he said, nodding, as he inexpertly flipped a burger. ‘He was interested in everything and quick to catch on, even though Algy had initially thought he might need babysitting. He worked the entire day without so much as a grumble and I know that a few of the visitors were quite taken with his accent.’ He laughed at some memory of the day. ‘He’s good for business. I’m hoping he’ll be back with me again next week if he can spare the time.’
‘Excellent,’ I said, thinking that was more like it as I vigorously tossed the salad Penny had made and remembered how popular Josh had been during music night at the pub. ‘And you got on well with him too, Dad, didn’t you?’
‘He certainly put in the hours.’ Dad nodded and I began to feel even more hopeful. ‘And he can work, I’ll give him that. Didn’t know much about gardening mind you, but was as keen to learn with me as he was with Nick. Though I can’t help wondering…’
‘You can’t help wondering what?’ I demanded, feeling deflated again.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Dad, handing out drinks, ‘I know you’re pretty struck on him, Daisy,’ I felt my face flush, ‘but I can’t help wondering if his desire to pitch in might not be some sort of…’
‘Some sort of what?’ Penny frowned.
‘Double bluff,’ said Mum.
‘What?’ I squawked, letting the salad servers clatter in the bowl.
‘Your father and I,’ Mum carried on as Nick and I exchanged a look, ‘think Josh might appear to be pitching in so eagerly to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Sort of to lull us all into a false sense of security before he strikes.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ snapped Nick, sounding every bit as cross as I felt.
‘We’re just being cautious,’ said Dad, giving Mum a look that suggested their conspiracy theory shouldn’t have been made public.
I was pleased it had been though. At least I knew more of what Josh was still up against now.
‘But why would you think that?’ Penny asked, sounding appalled.
‘Because we still don’t know the whole story, do we?’ said Dad.
‘You yourself, Daisy, said that he told you that there’s more to the situation than he’s let on, but he’s still not shared it, has he?’ Mum then said accusingly to me.
‘He’s not let on or shared it because he’s still sorting it all out,’ I said angrily. ‘Not because he’s got something to hide or is planning how to steal the estate out from under Algy, like his father had wanted to do.’
Neither Mum nor Dad still looked convinced.
‘I think his father, Thomas,’ I therefore continued, ‘has wronged both him and Algy in ways none of us knows, and until the pair of them have privately talked it all through and come to terms with it, they’re not going to share the details with us or anyone else, are they?’
When I had found out who Josh really was, I had been furious with him, but now I had no suspicions about his motives and was keen to defend him. It had broken me a bit when he said he had tried to imagine himself in my place when I regaled him with tales about growing up on the estate, and having seen him work so hard and spend every spare minute with his grandfather, there was no doubt in my mind that he was the man both the estate and Algy needed.
I was also thinking that I needed him again too. Now the dust had settled, I was missing our intimacy. It was only the middle of August and I hoped my summer fling hadn’t been entirely… flung.
‘I suppose not,’ Dad said reluctantly, huffing out a breath.
‘I think we should talk about something else,’ Penny suggested diplomatically.
‘I agree,’ said Nick, planting a kiss on her cheek. ‘Tell us how the beach café has been this week. Are you still thinking that paninis rather than pupils are your future, Pen?’
I had been looking forward to us all spending the evening together, but Mum and Dad’s continuing suspicions about Josh had put rather a dampener on the gathering. Thankfully, however, the man himself found a way to cheer me up again.
‘Hey!’ I waved as I approached the summerhouse and spotted him sitting on the veranda in one of the rocking chairs.
It was after dusk and the outside lights were all twinkling and I had left a lamp on inside too. My little bolthole looked cosy and inviting – even more so with the addition of Josh – and I tried not to think about how it might feel in the middle of winter without insulation to keep the chill out. There was a small woodburning stove installed, but would that really be enough to stave off the bitter January cold?
Josh put a finger to his lips and when I reached him, I realised why.
‘How have you managed that?’ I whispered, as I cooed over Luna, who was curled up and purring on his lap.
‘Oh, it was all her,’ Josh said quietly. ‘She came to me, rather than the other way around.’
‘I think that’s how it works with cats, isn’t it?’
‘I guess so,’ he said, as Luna stretched out, jumped down and rather than shooting off, looked pointedly at her empty food bowl.
Algy would be thrilled about this sudden progress. And thinking of Algy…
‘How was your evening?’ I asked, opening the door to let us in.
‘Revelatory,’ Josh sighed, following me inside and carrying in a rucksack I hadn’t previously noticed he had with him.
‘Oh?’
I filled the cat bowl, but couldn’t tempt Luna to come in, so closed the summerhouse door, leaving her to eat outside, before we were inundated with moths.
‘How was your night?’ Josh then asked me.
‘Mine was pretty revealing too,’ I sighed, biting my lip.
‘Care to share?’ he asked.
Given what I had discovered were my parent’s real thoughts about him, I didn’t think I did.
‘Not really,’ I said. ‘Do you?’
‘I think I should actually,’ he said. ‘I have a feeling there are a few people around here who are still doubting my motives for turning up and having now talked things through properly with Algy, I would like to paint you the full picture, Daisy, and then perhaps I’ll consider filling them in too.’
‘I would appreciate knowing more,’ I said, hoping what he had to share would have enough detail to put an end to my parents’ suspicions and maybe even shut down the entire rumour mill for good.
I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of white wine.
‘Can I tempt you?’ I offered.
‘Yes, please,’ Josh smiled, ‘but only a small one. I need to be stable on my feet for the cycle ride back to the village.’
‘Perhaps,’ I said boldly, feeling encouraged by his smile as I filled two glasses, ‘you might prefer to stay.’
The air between us, which was already warm, suddenly felt charged with electricity.
‘Oh, well, in that case,’ he smiled again, taking the glass from me and clinking it against mine as our eyes met, ‘a large one it is.’
Feeling the familiar tug of attraction, I knew we were back on track to regaining what we had enjoyed before and I gave him a tour of the summerhouse as he hadn’t previously visited, paying particular attention to the new mattress his grandfather had so kindly supplied. Josh sat and bounced on it approvingly with a wicked grin playing about his lips. I was hard pushed to resist the urge to join him.
‘So,’ I said, once we were safely back downstairs and sitting together on the sofa, ‘you and Algy have finished talking then.’
‘About my manipulative father, yes.’
‘Oh, dear,’ I said, taking a sip of my wine, ‘that doesn’t sound good.’
‘It isn’t,’ Josh said wearily. ‘I still haven’t really got my head around the depths he sunk to, to interfere in and ruin my and Algy’s relationship.’
He got up and retrieved a box and a bag he’d somehow squeezed into his rucksack and then sat next to me again.
‘Letters,’ I said with a frown, as he lifted the lid on the box and tipped out the bag. ‘So many letters. And that’s Algy’s handwriting – I’d recognise it anywhere.’
Josh then proceeded to explain.
‘It was the discovery of these letters,’ he told me, ‘that kicked off my decision to come here in the first place. My father had recently said a couple of things about Algy and Wynbrook that didn’t tally with what he’d always maintained in the past so, when he was safely out of the way, I went in search of evidence.’
‘And found…’
‘Hidden in Dad’s office, every birthday card, Christmas card and accompanying letter Algy had sent me via my mum’s parents’ address since we left here until the year I turned eighteen.’
‘Oh, Josh!’ I gasped.
‘Obviously I’d had no idea Algy had tried to keep in touch with me because my father had always maintained that he had thrown us off the estate when Dad had tried to suggest ways the place could be more efficiently and profitably run.’
‘But that’s not what happened—’ I rushed to say.
‘Don’t worry,’ interjected Josh. ‘I know that now. I know that it was my father who wanted to sell up and when Algy said no, Dad took us away and cut all ties.’
‘I can’t believe anyone could be so cruel,’ I said, as tears sprung to my eyes, imagining the grief Algy must have felt as a result of the loss. ‘Especially a parent.’
‘And this is only my side of it,’ Josh said, sounding choked himself. ‘Algy has a letter too. Sent from my father the year I turned eighteen. He insisted Algy stop trying to maintain contact as I clearly wasn’t interested in him. Dad told him that was why he’d never heard back from me. According to the vitriol my father wrote, I didn’t care about some ancient estate in the middle of nowhere or an old man with no vision and I’d told my father to write all of that, and worse, on my behalf.’
‘So, your dad had told you that Algy had abandoned you and wanted nothing more to do with you and then told Algy that you weren’t interested in him…’
‘That pretty much sums it up,’ Josh said, looking at the letters and cards from his grandfather that he had so recently discovered.
‘But why did your dad keep these?’ I asked. ‘Why not destroy the evidence?’
‘I have no idea,’ Josh sighed, ‘but thank goodness he didn’t, otherwise I would never have found out the truth. Do you understand now, Daisy, why I didn’t want to announce myself as soon as I arrived?’
‘But surely these letters and cards were proof enough that you were loved?’
‘They were,’ he said, ‘they are, but I was scared. What if, during the years after I turned eighteen, Algy had tarred me with the same brush as Dad had disgraced himself with. His letters to me had stopped that year. There had to be a reason for that, didn’t there? I didn’t know when I arrived, that Dad had written to him, so I was spending my time in Wynmouth trying to fathom out how he might feel and react before I declared myself.’
‘I see.’
‘I was so angry with Dad, I turned up in Wynmouth on impulse, having booked Sam’s cottage using Mum’s maiden name so no one would make the connection,’ he went on. ‘And I thought I’d have time to do some digging while I decided what to do next, but then…’
‘I nearly ran you over.’
Josh smiled at that.
‘But then you landed in my life, Daisy,’ he amended, ‘with your connection to Wynbrook and even though everything you said about Algy made me desperately want to meet him, I still felt cautious and knew I had to work my way up to it.’
‘Of course.’ I nodded.
‘But then when I realised, as a result of your concern for him, that Algy might be unwell and that I might not have the time I’d thought I had, I just booked a taxi and… turned up.’
‘So, in the end, it was another impulse decision that got you here to Wynbrook,’ I said, ‘rather than the carefully thought-out plan you thought you’d have the time to put together when you first arrived in the village.’
‘In the end,’ he smiled, ‘that’s exactly what it was and given Algy’s more than warm welcome and this joint purging of information Dad has poisoned us both with that we’ve gone through tonight, I can’t help wishing I’d come straight here and bypassed the village altogether.’
‘But then,’ I said, putting down my wine and taking his hand, ‘I never would have almost clipped you with my car…’
‘That’s true.’ He smiled. ‘And I wouldn’t have walked in on you naked after your swim.’
‘Or had me bump into you in the pub.’
‘That’s also true.’ Josh grinned. ‘All those precious moments would never have happened, would they?’
‘Not a single one.’
We were quiet for a moment then.
‘So,’ I eventually said, once I’d temporarily tamped down the desire to jump on him again, ‘you now finally know the truth behind your father leaving Wynbrook and taking you with him.’
‘I do.’ Josh nodded. ‘Knowing Dad wanted to sell the estate, and snatch what he thought would be his share, sounds very much like him. The selfish idiot. And I also know that Algy has recently been seriously considering selling up so he could choose the most sympathetic buyer for the place himself. He said he’d told you that.’
‘He did, though I wouldn’t have mentioned it, not even to you, because he’d asked me not to tell anyone.’
‘He trusts you without question, Daisy.’ Josh smiled. ‘And I can understand why.’
‘And I feel honoured that he does,’ I said. ‘Algy is as dear to me as my own family. Can we be completely certain that selling the estate definitely isn’t on the cards now?’
‘Not even in the deck,’ Josh said firmly. ‘Wynbrook Manor Estate is staying in Alford family hands and being run as it has always been. By which I mean, with the welfare of its staff and the environment at its heart.’
‘Algy’s got you well trained already!’ I laughed. ‘That’s his mantra.’
‘That he has,’ Josh happily agreed. ‘Though I’ve had a couple of fresh ideas for the place myself that I might want to set in motion.’
‘Such as?’
‘All in good time.’ He grinned again. ‘They’re both very good things, so there’s no cause for alarm. They just need further thinking about before I share them, even with Algy.’
‘Well, that’s all right then,’ I said, shifting closer. ‘Might one of those ideas involve giving me the go-ahead to give the decor in here a bit of a spruce up?’
Josh looked around.
‘I don’t think it needs sprucing up,’ he said, with a seductive smile. ‘But I wouldn’t mind taking a closer look at the paintwork up on the mezzanine, just to be sure…’
‘I think that can be arranged,’ I said, standing up and pulling him to his feet. ‘In fact, I know it can.’