Chapter 26
The ecstatic feeling lasted long into the following week. Early on Monday, after another wonderful night with Josh in the summerhouse, I drove us both into Wynmouth. Algy had been most insistent the previous evening, before everyone headed off, that Josh should move into the manor and used us, his dearest friends, to convince his grandson that he should.
‘You absolutely must,’ Mum had slightly slurred, and I had bitten my lip to stop myself from laughing. I’d never seen her tipsy before. ‘It’s your birthright and it’s high time you claimed it.’
Josh had finally been persuaded that making the move was the right next step, but we had a couple of things we wanted to indulge in in the village before we packed up the cottage and he made a permanent move to the manor.
‘Isn’t this glorious?’ I gasped, as I stopped mid-stroke in the sea and started to tread water.
The temperature had initially felt bracing, despite the rapidly rising temperature of the morning, but in that moment it was perfect. Plenty cold enough to cool me down, but not so chilly that I was dithering about going in.
‘It is,’ Josh agreed, as he reached me.
He pulled me into his arms and I found myself wishing there weren’t so many families already set up on the sand and paddling, because I could have been quite tempted to take the moment further.
‘Race you back!’ Josh then shouted, completely breaking the spell and swimming speedily off with a splash and without giving me any opportunity to catch him.
We lay on our towels for a while in front of the beach hut to dry off, then went inside to get changed.
‘You know the day I arrived,’ Josh said as he peeled off his swim shorts, ‘and walked in on you here…’
‘I vaguely remember.’ I grinned, thinking it felt like forever ago now, given how much had happened since, but it wasn’t actually that long ago at all.
‘I thought I remembered this place,’ Josh said falteringly. ‘Just a hazy memory of coming here, or somewhere very much like it.’
‘Maybe you did. I’m sure your parents must have brought you to the beach at some point.’
‘Mum might have done, I suppose,’ Josh mused.
‘You could always ask her,’ I suggested. ‘Did you contact her yesterday?’
He let out a breath.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I bottled it.’
‘I don’t think you bottled anything,’ I said sternly. ‘Given that you faced everyone else last night and cleared the air about what had happened since you’d been taken from Wynbrook and why you’ve now come back, that was enough to contend with for one day, wasn’t it?’
‘I guess.’ Josh smiled.
‘Why are you smiling?’
‘Because you sounded so cross with me.’
‘Not cross with you,’ I said, stepping closer to him. ‘Cross for you. You’re going through such a lot, so give yourself some credit. You can’t do it all at once, can you? I think you need to be a bit kinder to yourself, don’t you?’
‘I suppose I could be,’ he agreed, readily succumbing to the kiss I then bestowed upon him.
‘Anyone home?’ came a voice from outside.
It was Penny.
‘Yes,’ I shouted back. ‘We are. Go away.’
She ignored my request and opened the door.
‘I hope you’re not up to no good in here,’ said Nick, who was with her, as he looked between us. ‘That’s not what this place is for, you know.’
‘We would have been if you pair hadn’t barged in,’ I pouted and Nick laughed.
Though really, I would never have done anything more than kiss in the hut. It would have been disrespectful.
‘What are you doing here, Pen?’ I asked. ‘We were going to come down to the café for lunch later.’
She rolled her eyes at that.
‘It’s not open today, remember?’
‘Oh, bugger,’ I said. ‘I completely forgot you decided to keep the place closed on Mondays after all.’
‘Even I need a break sometimes,’ she laughed and I was pleased that she was taking at least some of the time off that she was entitled to ahead of the start of term at the beginning of September. ‘The twins are very good, but they’re not up to running the place entirely on their own,’ she added.
‘It’ll have to be the pub then. Are you up for that?’ I asked Josh.
‘I guess.’ He shrugged, then pulled on his T-shirt. ‘I have to face the rest of the village sometime, don’t I? And maybe word will have got round about me being a good guy, rather than a bloke on the make, by now.’
I was about to say that it might take longer than just the few hours that had passed since he talked to everyone back at Wynbrook, but Penny spoke up before me.
‘Well,’ she said, looking pleased with herself, ‘we’ve just had coffee in the pub and made a point of very loudly telling Sam some of what you told us last night, Josh, so rumours about you will still be circulating, but they’ll be much more positive ones now.’
‘We didn’t share the personal stuff,’ Nick added hastily, ‘about the letters and so on, but we did confirm that you’re here for good and that one day you’ll be taking over the estate from Algy and keeping it in the Alford family.’
‘Thank you for doing that, guys.’ Josh smiled gratefully and I felt my heart flip at the thought of him being around forever, as opposed to just the summer. ‘That’s brilliant.’
‘It was our pleasure,’ Penny said, blushing.
Apparently, not even a recently engaged person was immune to my current beau’s beautiful charms.
‘And knowing that I’m in for a warmer welcome than I expected,’ Josh then said to me, embracing the moment, ‘let’s head back to the cottage to wash the sea off us now and then go straight to the Smuggler’s for something to eat afterwards.’
‘All right,’ I willingly agreed.
‘Would you like us to come to the pub with you?’ Nick asked.
‘No,’ said Josh, ‘but thank you for offering. You two enjoy the beach hut, while you’ve got the chance.’
I scooped up my towel and bag.
‘And don’t do anything in here that we wouldn’t do,’ I called over my shoulder as I sashayed out.
If Josh wrung his hands once between leaving the cottage and walking into the pub, he did it a hundred times, and that was no mean feat given that the two buildings were next door to each other.
‘Stop stressing,’ I said as I caught his hand and kept hold of it. ‘You know it’s fine. Penny and Nick have already done the hard bit for you.’
‘Oh, I know,’ he said, ‘and I’m ever so grateful to them both, but I’m still nervous about what people are going to say to my face.’
‘Well, well,’ announced Sam, who was coming out of the pub to add something to the chalkboard in the lane, ‘if it isn’t the lord of the manor.’
Josh’s face dropped and I squeezed his hand.
‘Are you going to grace us with your presence?’ Sam carried on, not having noticed that Josh thought he was being serious. ‘It would be wonderful if you came in and raised the tone. There’s nothing but rum-swigging pirates and reprobates turned up so far this morning.’
I tutted and rolled my eyes and went to follow Sam inside, but Josh stayed rooted to the spot.
‘He’s kidding!’ I said, giving his hand a tug. ‘Come on.’
‘You do know I was joking, mate?’ Sam then said, rushing back to clarify, when he realised Josh hadn’t budged. ‘We’re all absolutely over the moon for you. And Algy. Truly.’
‘That we are,’ said George, who had wandered down the lane with Skipper and was now standing behind Josh. ‘I’m only a relative newbie in Wynmouth, but I’ve heard tales of your father, my boy, and I’m delighted that you’re nothing like him.’
‘I’m not,’ Josh said in earnest. ‘I’m nothing like him at all.’
‘So come inside and tell us how you’ve ended up here then and why,’ Sam said encouragingly. ‘We heard some of it from Penny and Nick earlier, but the horse’s mouth is bound to be better than second-hand.’
‘Yes,’ agreed George, ‘and do get a move on, young man. I’m in need of another shot of caffeine and you’re blocking my path to it.’
‘Come on.’ I smiled.
Josh crossed the threshold and rolled his eyes as Marguerite stepped out from behind the bar to curtsy while Tess tugged her forelock.
‘You’re all idiots.’ Josh grinned, getting the joke, and everyone laughed.
Sam insisted that our drinks were on the house and once Josh had added the merest details to what Penny and Nick had already explained, interest in him died down and everyone went back to their own conversations. I had a feeling most of them were probably about Wynbrook, but I didn’t point that out to Josh as his shoulders were finally looking less hunched and he was sounding more relaxed.
‘My main reason for calling in,’ he said to Sam, ‘is to let you know that I’m going to be moving out of the cottage today. Algy has talked me into moving into the manor.’
‘Quite right too,’ said Tess, smiling. ‘He must be absolutely thrilled that you’ve finally returned to the fold.’
Josh looked wide-eyed.
‘I haven’t thought about it like that before,’ he said, his eyes tracking intently to mine. ‘But it is a kind of return, isn’t it?’
‘Absolutely,’ I agreed.
‘I do have a home, after all,’ he added with a gulp, and I blinked hard. ‘There is somewhere in the world that I belong.’
‘And it’s the same place as me,’ I said softly.
Josh reached for my hand and our eyes stayed locked. We had both come back to Wynbrook Manor this summer and neither of us had any intention of leaving it again. Would that mean our relationship also had the potential to last longer than the summer? So caught up with the monumental changes my life had been going through, I hadn’t yet considered that!
‘I won’t have time to sort it today,’ said Sam, as he cut through the moment and made Josh reluctantly tear his eyes away from mine. ‘But if you leave it with me, I’ll see if I can sort you a refund for the weeks you won’t now be staying in the cottage.’
‘No, don’t do that,’ Josh insisted. ‘I booked it for the whole of the summer and I wasn’t expecting to get any money back now I’m moving out early. I wouldn’t expect you to leave it empty until my booking expired either. If you can let it again, then do.’
‘Are you sure?’ Tess asked.
‘Absolutely,’ said Josh. ‘There’s still plenty of summer left so you might as well.’
‘Actually,’ said Marguerite, ‘I wouldn’t mind moving in for a bit as I’ve decided to stay on in the area, if that would be okay with you, Sam? I still haven’t found anywhere to rent and it’s high time I got out of your hair and your spare room.’
‘And my bathroom,’ laughed Sam. ‘This woman likes her products.’
‘Hey!’ she objected, with her hands planted on her slim hips. ‘I travel light!’
‘Yes,’ said Sam, ‘you travel light, but you have a hell of a lot of stuff delivered when you land!’
‘I thought you were in an Airbnb somewhere, Marguerite?’ I frowned, while Tess batted Sam with a tea towel.
‘I was when I first arrived,’ she told me, ‘but I fancied a change and Tess offered.’
‘Which was a huge mistake,’ Sam said theatrically.
‘No, it was not,’ tutted Tess. ‘But moving into Crow’s Nest might not be a bad idea.’
With the cottage’s next resident already decided, Josh and I headed back there to pack so he could quickly vacate and Marguerite could move in.
‘You’re another one who travels light,’ I said, once his few things were stowed in my car and he’d returned the door key to the pub.
‘But I did have all those letters and cards from Algy to carry with me originally, don’t forget,’ he said as he tried to open the passenger window, which had been jammed stubbornly shut since the temperature had soared. ‘They’re at Wynbrook already.’
‘Having discovered them, I would have thought it would have made more sense to leave them back in the US. Just in case your dad, for some reason, decided to check on them and found they’d gone.’
‘I have considered that myself since I got here,’ said Josh. ‘But so far, so good, in terms of him not finding out what I’ve done. And,’ he added, ‘I think there was a part of me that was scared Dad might take it upon himself to destroy them, even though it looked like they hadn’t been disturbed for years. I couldn’t risk them being lost, especially before I’d had the chance to read them all, so keeping them with me felt like the safest option.’
‘You did the right thing then,’ I said and nodded. His father was a vindictive man and he wouldn’t have thought twice about destroying the evidence of his deception if the fancy took him. ‘Now, let’s get you back to Algy. I know he must be desperate to get you moved in.’
Having made sure early in the day that everything was well in the walled garden, Josh and I spent the rest of Tuesday together. He showed me the room he’d picked out in the manor, which overlooked the garden and then, with Algy’s blessing, we headed off. He was preoccupied with further coaxing the cat into his kitchen, so wasn’t going to miss us for a little while. Luna was making great strides in becoming tame. It was miraculous what the lure of cooked chicken could do.
Josh and I didn’t travel all that far. The lack of aircon in my car made the thought of a long excursion more than unpleasant, and besides, having both so recently fallen in love with Wynbrook, neither of us felt inclined to leave it too far behind.
‘This place is bliss, isn’t it?’ said Josh, looking across the sand to where the tide was just on the turn.
‘Just a bit,’ I willingly agreed and my heart leapt to hear him sound so happy. ‘Hey look, a starfish.’
We had decided to spend a while exploring the rock pools slightly further along the coast than Wynmouth, which was currently enjoying an influx of summer visitors.
‘That’s so pretty,’ said Josh.
‘And look there,’ I said, pointing. ‘Did you see that crab just peeping out?’
By the time we looked up again, the tide had rapidly advanced so we beat a hasty retreat back to the dunes where we ate the picnic Josh had made in the manor kitchen.
‘I feel a bit bad eating this shrimp roll,’ I said, with a wistful look back to the where the pools were now filling with seawater.
‘I’ll take it off your hands,’ Josh said, grinning.
‘I don’t feel that bad,’ I laughed, taking another bite.
Once we’d finished, we packed the basket back up, making sure we didn’t leave any litter behind, then found a more sheltered spot where we wiled away an hour reading. Josh was still enjoying the company of Anne Shirley, while I was perusing an online prospectus I’d earlier downloaded. Having inspired Dad to follow his academic dreams, there was something I was feeling inclined to look further into as well.
‘What are you so engrossed in?’ Josh asked, when he put the book down to take a drink.
‘Oh,’ I said, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun as I looked across at him. ‘It’s something I’m considering doing later in the year.’
That said, I would need to talk to Algy about it first and then make up my mind soon after that as September was suddenly not that far off.
‘I’m intrigued,’ Josh further said. ‘Tell me.’
‘All in good time,’ I said, putting my phone down. ‘How are you finding Anne?’
Josh didn’t push me to tell him and I was grateful for that. I knew there were things he was still ruminating over too, so it didn’t feel like secret-keeping. Rather, information gathering so that when the time came to talk, we’d have all the information we needed.
‘Delightful.’ He smiled. ‘Though it feels a little absurd that I came all the way to the UK to discover an American classic.’
‘Well,’ I said, moving closer to him, ‘at least you’ve found her now.’
‘And you, Daisy,’ he said, planting a sweet kiss on my lips, ‘thank goodness I found you too.’
‘I agree,’ I said, kissing him back. ‘You’ve made this summer far more satisfying than I initially thought it was going to be.’
He looked at me seriously and I drew away a little.
‘What?’ I frowned.
‘We are good together, aren’t we?’ He swallowed, his Adam’s apple rising and falling in his throat.
‘So good,’ I agreed.
‘And I’m not just talking about in bed,’ he said and my heart stuttered. ‘I think we make a pretty good team all round, don’t you?’
He couldn’t have given me any clearer an indication that his feelings for me stretched beyond the reaches of what you would expect from a fun summer fling and I was keen to let him know that I felt the same way too.
‘Hey! Watch out!’ someone shouted, just as a beach ball came flying across the dune, hit my head and toppled our open water bottle over.
Josh snatched up my book, saving it from a soaking and I grabbed my phone.
‘I’m sorry,’ said a young boy who came racing up, scattering sand to retrieve the ball. ‘Dad kicked that, not me.’
‘No worries,’ I said, handing it back to him and feeling relieved that Josh and I hadn’t been indulging in a moment of passion.
Josh set the now-empty bottle upright again on the sand.
‘Shall we make a move?’ he suggested, as the family game of football taking place just below us escalated in volume. ‘I daresay you want to check you’ve got flowers to sell tomorrow, don’t you?’
I did, but I would have much preferred to carry on our conversation.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Yes, everything was looking fine earlier, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another look. Do you fancy staying with me tonight?’
‘I’d love to,’ he said and I hoped I’d be able to set the scene to tell him that I was in complete agreement about us being good together – in bed and beyond. ‘But I promised Algy I’d watch some home videos he’s found. He reckons I might be in a couple of them.’
‘Oh, that’s amazing. I hope you are on tape somewhere.’
I was disappointed that we wouldn’t be spending the night under the same roof, but knew that continuing the process of piecing his past together was something that would make Josh happy. Anything Algy could offer him that would connect him to Wynbrook was always going to be welcome because his father’s desire to move him about when he was growing up had ensured he had endured a very fractured childhood.
‘I’d love to see you running about the place in a nappy,’ I laughed, thinking how cute Josh must have been as a toddler.
‘Are you teasing me?’ he laughed back.
‘Absolutely,’ I said, standing up and brushing the sand off my shorts.
‘Well, I wouldn’t if I were you,’ he said, grabbing my ankle and making me screech. ‘Because I bet your parents have got far more embarrassing baby photos and videos of you than Algy has of me!’
‘Oh, crikey,’ I grimaced, remembering some less than flattering haircuts I’d been subjected to and the mortifying school photos that chronicled them. ‘I didn’t think of that!’