Chapter 21
Marcus wanders along the coast road, trying to stay well away from the hotel. He wished to put as much distance between himself and Olivia’s kids as possible earlier. The last thing he wanted was to be embroiled in a conversation with Bella, especially with her mother present.
He keeps to the cooler side of the road where the slim pavement is still in shade as it hugs the holiday cottages and B blue, pink, lemon, pistachio.
Perhaps there should be a special range of paint in B&Q named Seaside Cottage and he sniggers inwardly at the clichéd confection of it all.
Lifting a hand to his forehead, he feels he is sweating.
He’s not sure whether it’s the heat of the day, already building to a seasonal high, or the vodka he drank last night with Bella, seeping out of his dehydrated skin.
He had to do a cheeky line before breakfast just to make it down on time to meet Tobias in the foyer.
He’s not sure how he feels about staying here for the next few days and in the same hotel as well.
It makes him feel cooped up, penned in, claustrophobic.
To be so close to all the Woolfs. At their beck and call, in so many different ways.
If it isn’t Olivia messaging him at all times of the day and night about her new business venture, how she is planning their rosy future down here together, it’s the daughter, Bella, pestering him for another late-night hook-up.
And that’s without the added stress of Tobias insisting he’s on site the whole day.
What really irritates him, though, is the fact that Tobias is rushing the project.
The guy has no idea how difficult it is to get a good finish with such cheap labour costs.
And now he’s cutting back on the schedule as well.
Marcus doesn’t do rough and ready and when it comes to this build he really wants it to be perfect, no matter how long it takes.
He wonders if there’s a way he could delay the renovation a little.
Just until the summer season is over and Tobias is back in London and out of his hair.
That way he could complete things to his own standards without that hot-headed idiot breathing down his neck.
He turns the corner and begins the steep climb up and out of the bay towards the house.
His shirt is already drenched in sweat and he’s regretting the several black coffees earlier.
Nipping into the local minimart, he buys a large bottle of water.
Back outside, he takes a long pull on the drink and feels its coldness snaking itself down within his body.
He even cups his hands to splash a little over his face and neck.
Better, he thinks, and continues the upward march towards the building site.
He considers the scaffolding, clinging to the exterior of the house, visible now on the crest of the hill.
How Tobias had mentioned that he wanted to have it taken down as soon as possible, once the roof was finished.
Marcus is not entirely sure, but he thinks there are still one or two jobs to do up there.
It might be the excuse he’s looking for.
And then his mind flits back to the previous evening, how he and Bella had sat out there, watching the night sky, exchanging secrets – well, only hers actually.
The thing is, she’s not a bad kid really.
Neither of them are, which is a miracle given the parents and their upbringing.
It just goes to show: all the money, privilege and expensive schooling in the world doesn’t make you happy. Though it certainly helps.
He falters at the memory of Bella dropping to her knees suddenly in front of him, undoing his belt before he even had chance to know what was happening.
How desperate for recognition, affection must that girl be to do such a thing with a relative stranger?
In that moment she had seemed so young, so naive and yet when they were up on the roof discussing her parents she had talked with such a tragic cynicism.
She had seemed old beyond her years. But then she had looked up at him with those doe eyes – just like her mother’s – smiled at him with that sulky mouth.
Even without the vodka, it would have made his head spin.
But he must be careful. He can’t let anything like that take place between them again.
It doesn’t matter how cute she is, the fact he’s only just met her.
At the end of the day, she’s Tobias’s daughter. Which means she’s also his half-sister.