Chapter 28
As we rushed back to the pub car park, which was where Dad was waiting for us, Josh explained what was behind his crisis and it turned out to be far more worrying than my reacquaintance with my materialistically obsessed ex.
‘Mum called me,’ Josh puffed, ‘to warn me that Dad might turn up at the manor.’ I stopped in my tracks and he reached for my T-shirt sleeve. He gave it a tug to get me moving again. ‘Come on. She said he could literally arrive at any moment.’
‘What?’ I gasped, picking up the pace. ‘As in right now ? Your father might literally be about to turn up at Wynbrook now?’
‘Yep.’ Josh nodded. ‘That’s what Mom reckoned, once she’d worked out the timing of his flight.’
‘I’m guessing he’s realised the letters are missing then,’ I tutted, after I’d taken a few more speedy but leg-deadening steps.
Why was walking across sand always such hard work when you were in a rush?
‘Afraid so,’ Josh said resignedly.
‘Couldn’t your mum have given you more of heads-up? This is pretty short notice.’
Josh shook his head.
‘She didn’t know,’ he told me. ‘Apparently, Dad emailed her about what he was doing just a couple of hours ago. He’s away with work a lot, so she hadn’t given his absence from home a thought – until he got in touch and said he was on his way to Norfolk having taken a particular flight to Heathrow.’
‘I wonder why he told her at all,’ I puffed. ‘Surely, he must have known she’d tell you and that would ruin the… surprise?’
‘His arrogance probably got the better of him,’ Josh said darkly.
Thomas Alford and Laurence really were peas shelled from the same pod then.
‘So I’m guessing your mum didn’t know about the letters?’
‘No,’ Josh said, ‘but she does now – she’s literally packing a suitcase and leaving Dad as we speak. She said this was the final straw and that she’s moving out to our house in California, which is the one she’s always loved the most, and filing for divorce.’
I didn’t know what to say to that. The world Josh’s family – or at least one side of it – lived in, sounded absolutely nothing like mine. And actually, I was grateful for that.
‘Oh, love,’ said Dad, jumping out of the car the second he spotted us. ‘Your mum was so worried that she sent me to find you as soon as Laurence showed up, to give you a minute to compose yourself, but obviously we missed each other somewhere in the garden. Are you all right?’
‘Apart from being in shock,’ I told him, as I gave him a hug, ‘I’m fine. Laurence has gone again now – this time for good.’
‘Why are you in shock?’ he asked, frowning, as he pulled away and looked at me intently.
‘Well,’ I said, as Josh climbed into the passenger seat, ‘for a start, given what you’ve just said about Mum, you and her seem to have had quite a change of opinion about my ex. You both always thought Laurence—’
‘Yes, well,’ Dad interrupted gruffly, ‘opinions change when the need arises, don’t they? And your mum and I had already realised that it was him who had been in the wrong over something, not you, even before he turned up putting on airs and graces.’
‘I see.’ I nodded, feeling relieved they had truly got the message without me having to share all of the details.
‘Come on,’ he said, opening the back door for me. ‘We need to hurry up because it’s going to be out of the frying pan and into the fire, unless I’m very much mistaken. We need to be at the manor and on alert in case Thomas turns up. Has Josh filled you in?’
‘He has,’ I sighed. ‘What a day.’
Josh looked ashen on the drive back to Wynbrook and I was just about to ask him if he was all right when my mobile started to ring.
‘Hey Nick,’ I said.
‘Hey, Daisy. Is Josh with you? I’ve tried ringing his mobile but he’s not picking up.’
‘Hold on.’
I tapped Josh on the shoulder and passed the phone between the seats.
‘It’s for you,’ I told him. ‘It’s Nick.’
‘Hey Nick,’ he said tentatively. ‘What’s up? I know, sorry, I left it at the manor.’
He was silent for a few seconds while Nick talked and then let out a ragged breath.
‘Oh god, no,’ he gasped, scaring me witless. ‘We’re almost there.’
‘Two minutes,’ said Dad, who put his foot down a little, even though he didn’t know what Nick had said.
‘We’ll be two minutes,’ Josh relayed to Nick. ‘Okay, we’ll meet you there.’
He passed the phone back between the seats.
‘What is it?’ I swallowed, taking it from his shaking hand. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Penny has just arrived at Nick’s place and said there’s an ambulance parked up outside the manor.’ Dad’s foot pressed even harder on the accelerator. ‘I think something must have happened to Algy.’
‘Oh no,’ I sobbed. ‘Please no.’
‘It’s not even half an hour since you talked to your mum, Josh,’ Dad tried to reassuringly say. ‘I’m sure nothing serious could have happened in that time.’
‘Well,’ said Josh, ‘we’ll soon find out, won’t we?’
Dad’s gaze flicked to mine in the rear-view mirror and I bit my lip. I hoped he was right and nothing, serious or otherwise, had happened.
As we rounded the final bend to reach the turning for Wynbrook, it became apparent, however, that quite a lot could have happened because an ambulance turned right out of the end of the drive and shot off with its siren blaring and lights flashing just as we went to pull in from the left.
‘What do you want me to do?’ Dad asked Josh, as he stamped heavily on the brake, making my seatbelt lock up. ‘Drive to the manor or follow the ambulance?’
‘Drive to the manor, Dad,’ I urged, when Josh looked torn and didn’t answer. ‘We don’t know who’s in the ambulance yet, so there’s no point chasing after it.’
‘Daisy’s right,’ Josh said. ‘Let’s get to the manor and find out what’s happened.’
My phone began to ring again, just as the manor came into sight, but the panic and dread coursing through me quickly abated because Algy was standing on the drive, waving his stick to let us know that whoever had been carried off, it wasn’t him.
‘Oh, thank god,’ said Josh, sounding shaken but relieved.
‘We’re here,’ I said to Nick on the phone, even though he was standing there too and could see the car.
‘What’s happened?’ Josh demanded, jumping out as soon as Dad stopped. ‘Are you all right, Grandad?’
It wasn’t the moment to flag that he had called Algy ‘Grandad’ for the first time, but my goodness, there was a huge lump in my throat and Dad looked misty-eyed too, as he opened the back door and helped me out.
‘I’m fine,’ said Algy, as his grandson towered protectively over him. ‘I’m fine, but I’m sorry to say, your father isn’t.’
‘It was Dad in the ambulance?’ Josh gasped, looking back along the drive.
‘Afraid so,’ said Algy. ‘He turned up almost the second you and Robin had gone. He immediately started ranting and then keeled over. I called for an ambulance and thankfully one had been stood down after a hoax call nearby. Not that I’m pleased about the hoax, obviously, but your father was very lucky by all accounts.’
‘He’s had a heart condition for years,’ Josh told us. ‘But he’s never been hospitalised as an emergency before, as far as I know. He’s had enough warnings though…’
‘He said he’d come to warn me about you,’ Algy started to say as Mum came dashing along the path, with a duster in her hand. ‘He tried to tell me that he’d sent you here to do his dirty work for him and butter me up so I’d put the place on the market.’
‘You didn’t believe him, did you?’ asked Josh.
‘Of course, I didn’t,’ Algy said.
‘What an idiot,’ said Dad.
‘Me or Dad?’ Josh sniffed.
‘Both of you,’ Dad tutted, which made Josh smile. ‘We all know you’re here for the right reasons, my boy.’
‘That we do,’ Mum agreed, as she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was clearly relieved to see me, but subsequent events had now overtaken what I’d just been through. ‘I hope you gave him what for, Algernon,’ she added as she flicked the duster about agitatedly. ‘I hope you gave back as good as you got.’
‘I started to,’ he swallowed, but then his face began to crease, ‘but then he…’
‘Let’s go inside,’ Penny suggested soothingly in her best teacher voice as she quickly herded us all together.
‘I’ll make some tea,’ said Mum. ‘I’m sure we could all do with a cup and some extra sugar for the shock.’
‘That we could,’ I wholeheartedly agreed.
‘We weren’t even gone half an hour,’ Dad said, sounding dazed as he shook his head. ‘I can’t believe all this has happened in such a short space of time.’
The situation made me feel even more furious about Laurence turning up. Had he stayed away, we would have all been on site and able to look out for Algy and possibly even stop Thomas from putting further stress on his heart and keeling over as a result. I hoped Algy wasn’t going to start blaming himself for what had happened.
‘I need to get to the hospital,’ said Josh, who had a tight hold on Algy’s hand, but relinquished it so Mum could walk Algy in.
‘Not yet you don’t,’ Dad said firmly. ‘The ambulance won’t have reached the hospital yet and you won’t be able to see your father until he’s been assessed and properly admitted.’
‘Dad’s right,’ I said, when Josh looked doubtful. ‘Have a drink and maybe something to eat and then we’ll go together.’
We stalled Josh for as long as possible, knowing that his father could be literally hours waiting to be assessed, but eventually I caved and drove him to the hospital the ambulance crew had told Algy they were heading for.
Josh had tried to telephone ahead, but it had been a long time before anyone picked up and then he was only given the scantest information – nothing more than confirmation that his dad was there.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked, as I slipped my hand into his when we arrived and headed towards the ward he’d been directed to via the main reception.
‘Not really,’ he said.
‘Of course you’re not,’ I sighed. ‘Sorry, that was a stupid question.’
‘I’m so pleased you’re here, Daisy,’ he said, rather than confirm my foolishness.
‘I’m pleased I’m here too,’ I told him, squeezing his hand tighter.
I hated the thought of him having to make this trip on his own, though I was relieved Algy had been talked out of coming with us.
‘I think this is it,’ Josh said, with a nod to a sign above some double doors.
Once we had buzzed and been admitted to the ward, we heard Josh’s dad before we saw the room he was in. Josh knew who it was because he immediately recognised the angry raised voice and it didn’t take a second for me to work out that there couldn’t be that many American slash English accents shouting the odds at the overworked nursing staff.
‘Is this really the best you can do?’ came the voice in a tone of utter disgust. ‘Well, I want moving first thing tomorrow.’
‘We would be delighted to move you,’ said a tired-sounding nurse as she backed out of the side room and closed the door.
Josh and I walked over to the nurse’s station.
‘I’m sorry to say, that’s my dad in there,’ Josh said apologetically to the nurse, who was now behind the desk. ‘His name is Thomas Alford and I’m Josh Alford.’
The nurse, who looked exhausted, perked up when she saw who was talking to her.
‘You’re Mr Alford’s son,’ she commented, trying to sound professional, which I knew could be a stretch when faced with the blond and bronzed Adonis.
‘I am,’ Josh confirmed. ‘But don’t worry, I’m absolutely nothing like him.’
She gave me a fleeting glance and I returned her look of relief with a smile.
‘I can’t deny that I’m pleased to hear that,’ she sighed. ‘He’s not a happy man, is he?’
‘Nope,’ said Josh. ‘Never. And I apologise for that.’
‘No need for you to apologise, my love.’ She smiled.
‘Well,’ Josh carried on, ‘I hope no one here is taking his foul outpouring personally.’
Clearly, this wasn’t the first time Josh had had to deal with the fallout from his father’s bad and rude moods. What a horrible father to have. I could imagine Josh apologising for him wherever they went: restaurants, shops – everywhere where they came into contact with hard-working people just trying to go about their business.
‘Sadly, we’re used to it,’ said the nurse in a matter-of-fact tone, then added, ‘but from what I’ve experienced of him so far, he’s… next level.’
She then checked herself, which couldn’t have been easy, given what she and the rest of the staff had been subjected to. I could still hear him sounding off and, as far as I knew, he was in the room on his own so no one was listening. His continued rage couldn’t be doing his already strained and stressed heart much good.
‘I’m going to page the consultant who has assessed Mr Alford, so he can talk to you himself,’ the nurse said. ‘And then perhaps I could ask you to fill in the forms your father has refused to look at?’
‘Of course,’ said Josh, sounding a little embarrassed.
‘I’ll go and find a seat,’ I said to Josh. ‘Just come and find me when you’re sorted. There’s no rush.’
‘You don’t want to meet Dad?’ Josh asked, raising an eyebrow in faux surprise.
‘Perhaps not tonight.’ I smiled. ‘Maybe when he’s feeling in… a better frame of mind.’
‘Never then,’ said Josh, planting a soft kiss on my mouth.
‘Quite possibly not,’ I responded, quickly kissing him back.
While Josh was kept occupied with the consultant and then the nurses – did the form filling really require all three of them – and then his dad, I sat at the end of the corridor and mulled over the day’s events. There was certainly plenty to think about.
I looked through the list of Wynbrook Bloom Instagram followers, but couldn’t spot Laurence among them. He’d either created an account and set it to private so I couldn’t identify him or was searching for the page every day rather than following it, not that it really mattered.
Now the materialistic moron knew I wasn’t in line to inherit a rural fortune, I felt certain he’d stop keeping tabs and retreat for good, both online and in real life. And good riddance. Maybe he’d even unfollowed the account already.
Josh and Algy, on the other hand, were stuck with Thomas because he was family. Even if they didn’t want to be tied to him, they were, by blood. Knowing Josh as well as I now did and having heard more than enough of his father in the brief time I’d been in earshot, I knew which branch of the family I preferred. I’d had my ups and downs with both my mum and my dad over the years, but as the nurse had said of Thomas Alford, dealings with him were next level.
I had just arrived back on the ward, having fulfilled the sudden urge to go outside and phone my parents to tell them we would never mention Laurence’s name again, that I loved them and that I was very happy to be back living, and now also working, on the estate, as well as giving them a quick update about what was going on at the hospital, when Josh came to find me. His shoulders were hunched and he looked absolutely exhausted. I guessed there had been no kind words or make up moments between him and his dad. Perhaps they weren’t going to be tied for life, after all…
‘How’d it go?’ I asked.
There was no point in asking him again if he was okay because he clearly wasn’t.
‘Not well,’ he said grimly. ‘Not well at all.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I sympathised, as he sat on the seat next to me.
‘It’s fine,’ he said, leaning forward and pushing his hands into his already messy hair. ‘It was bound to happen sooner or later and it’s not as if I’ve lost anything.’
‘What was bound to happen?’ I asked.
Josh sat back and rested his head against the wall and for a moment I thought Thomas Alford’s temper had caused his heart to give up for good, but it wasn’t that.
‘My grandfather already was, but I’m now also officially estranged from my father,’ Josh told me. ‘And I always will be.’
‘Oh, Josh,’ I whispered.
‘It was inevitable,’ he said with a shrug.
‘And are you sad about that?’ I asked.
‘No,’ he said, shaking his head, ‘I’m not. If anything, I’m relieved, to be honest. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to be good enough for him, but I was never going to meet his impossibly high expectations, was I?’
‘Given what I’ve heard of him tonight,’ I nudged, ‘I don’t think anyone could.’
‘I think I always reminded him too much of Grandad,’ Josh said and I smiled. ‘I thought it would feel strange saying it,’ he smiled too, ‘but it doesn’t.’
‘Good,’ I nudged again.
‘I think Dad could see so much of his father in me that our relationship was never going to be a success.’
‘I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s just said to you about those letters and you coming here and falling in love with Wynbrook,’ I said with a shudder.
Josh gave a wry smile.
‘And I’m certainly not going to tell you,’ he laughed, sounding more like himself. ‘That’s not language I would ever wish to repeat.’
‘So, what now?’ I asked. ‘For your dad, I mean. How long has he got to stay in here?’
‘The consultant is willing to let him go as soon as possible, which I’m sure will come as no surprise.’
‘Er, no.’
‘He’ll probably be discharged the day after tomorrow.’
‘Those poor nurses until then, though,’ I said. ‘What will he do after that? Will he be able to fly straight back to the States?’
He certainly wouldn’t be recuperating at Wynbrook. There wasn’t going to be a kiss and make up happy-ever-after along this branch of the limited Alford line.
‘I think he’s planning to,’ Josh told me. ‘His assistant is already on a flight and he’ll assess the situation when he gets here. He’ll probably advise a rest in a five-star hotel somewhere for a few days first, but knowing Dad, he won’t listen.’
‘His assistant? I can’t believe there’s anyone in the world who would willingly take that job on.’
‘Oh, believe me, Jerome is very well renumerated for putting up with Dad and his epic tantrums.’
‘I had no idea there was that much money in the world,’ I tutted.
If Thomas Alford was prepared to rant like I’d heard that evening, with a heart condition flare-up hampering his flow, I dreaded to think what he was capable of when he was as fit as his condition allowed.
‘So,’ said Josh, reaching for my hand, ‘Jerome will arrive tomorrow and I can leave here without a guilty conscience because I did try to patch things up with Dad.’
‘You did?’ I gasped.
‘I did.’ He nodded gravely. ‘And Algy video-called, with Penny’s help, and he tried to reconcile us too, but my father was having none of it, so now we’re both done with him for good. I think Algy was feeling guilty about what happened this afternoon—’
‘I was afraid he might be,’ I interrupted.
‘But having heard more of Dad’s bitterness tonight, he’s realised the outcome was inevitable.’
‘Well, that’s something. It’s been quite a day for saying final goodbyes to destructive relationships.’
‘Hasn’t it just?’ Josh agreed.
‘Thank goodness you’ve fallen in love with Wynbrook.’ I smiled. ‘It would have been terrible if you’d travelled this far and gone through all of this for it not to work out.’
‘That it would,’ he sighed.
‘You sound exhausted.’
‘I am. I really am.’
‘Come on, then,’ I said, as I stood up. ‘Let me drive you home. I bet you’re going to sleep for a week.’
‘I might just,’ he said, taking my hand, but not standing up. ‘You do know that Wynbrook isn’t the only thing I’ve fallen in love with this summer, don’t you, Daisy?’ he said.
I looked down at him and felt my breath hitch.
‘I think so,’ I whispered.
He gently manoeuvred me, so I was standing right in front of him.
‘I’ve fallen in love with you too,’ he said softly as he gazed up at me.
I stared deep into his eyes and for a moment wished we weren’t in a busy hospital corridor, but then realised, when love declares itself, the location doesn’t matter. All that counts is the two people saying the words and I felt more than ready to say them back.
‘And I love you too,’ I told him. ‘I love you, Josh Alford.’