Page 56 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually (Actually #1)

I took a deep breath. “Yes, I have, Dad. I have found something better since I’ve been here. It may not be something life-changing in the way either of us hoped it might be when I left, but it’s certainly changed mine for the better. And that something is Mum.”

I waited for the explosion to come from my father. But strangely it didn’t.

He sat back on the sofa looking thoughtful.

“Is that the only thing you’ve found since coming here, Scarlett? Your mother?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, you said yourself you only met up with her in the past few days. What about the rest of the time you’ve been here? You must have met some other people and had some other experiences you’ve learned from?”

Just what was my father getting at?

I picked up my tea from the table and casually took a sip of it. Yuck, it was barely warm now.

“I’ve made a few new friends since I’ve been here, yes.”

“And?”

“And what? What are you trying to say, Dad?”

My father stood up and walked around Belinda and Harry’s lounge for a few moments, supposedly inspecting the few ornaments that they allowed in their minimalist interior.

“I spent quite a bit of time with both Sean and David this evening,” he said, suddenly spinning round to face me again.

“Yes, they said you had.”

“And do you know what they both spent most of their evening talking about while they were with me?”

I shrugged. “Football?”

“Scarlett!” My father came over to the sofa and placed his hands purposefully on the back.

“You silly girl. They both spent nearly all their time talking about you tonight. I don’t know what exactly you’ve been up to while you’ve been here in London—nor do I want to know,” he added, holding up his hand as I opened my mouth to protest. “But what is obvious to me, and anyone else with half a brain, is that these two men both care about you very much.”

I thought about David and Sean waiting for us in Belinda and Harry’s house right now. They hated each other, and yet tonight, just like Sean had said, they’d put aside their differences to help me.

Dad sat down next to me again. “You need to be careful, Scarlett. Or someone’s going to get hurt.”

“But I don’t want to hurt anyone, Dad. I never do. I didn’t want to hurt you or Mum either. I just want everyone to be happy for once in my life.”

“But sometimes your actions, intentional or otherwise, can have a ripple effect. You have to think carefully before you make your choices in life, Scarlett. Use your head for a change.”

I sighed. If only Dad knew the truth. I had been using my head for far too long to make my choices—especially those involving David.

“Sean uses his head,” my father said out of the blue.

I stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“He uses his head. In his business and in his personal life as far as I can see.”

“And how do you know this?”

“I spent some time with him earlier tonight. We talked business—”

“Yes, I know,” I said, cutting Dad short. “I saw the two of you together earlier, but what’s that got to do with Sean’s personal life? ”

“If you’ll let me finish, Scarlett. As I said we talked earlier, and while you were out, Sean was also gone for some time too: ‘A little business to attend to,’ he said.”

“But I thought Sean was here all night with you and David?”

Dad shook his head. “No, David was here with me for most of that time. Sean got back just before you did.”

Sean was out tonight doing business deals? So much for me thinking he’d been worrying about me all evening.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t care. “Sean’s business is pretty important to him.”

Maybe he and David weren’t that different after all.

“It surprised me, Scarlett. Until then I’d thought Sean was completely focused on you this evening, and I’d been impressed by that. But when I found out what he was up to while he was away from the house, my opinion of him began to sway even more.”

“What on earth do you mean, Dad?” I asked, as a feeling of unease began to flutter around at the base of my stomach.

“Apparently, Sean went to find your mother tonight. I understand from David your other guests found her in a café not far from here. So while he was out Sean went to check on her as well.”

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked defiantly. “I’m glad someone went to make sure she was all right.”

My father raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head slowly.

“Oh, Scarlett, you’ve so much to learn.”

“What, what is it?” I screwed my eyes closed and shook my head. “Just what are you going on about, Dad?” I said, opening them again. “What are you trying to say? ”

“That Sean is playing a very clever game with us all. I don’t doubt he cares about you very much, Scarlett.

But to win you over he tried to manipulate the situation we all found ourselves in tonight for his own ends.

He had a chance to look good in front of me, your mother, and, most importantly, you, all in one evening.

And he took that chance and ran with it tonight. ”

I sat there for a few moments trying to take all this in. No, Dad was wrong, surely. Sean wasn’t like that.

But then why hadn’t he said he’d been to Kelly’s to check on my mother? And why did he suggest he’d been in the house all night with Dad and David if he hadn’t? It just didn’t add up.

“I’m not saying Sean’s a bad person—far from it,” Dad continued when I didn’t respond. “I actually quite like him. But perhaps he’s not quite the person you think he is?”

I nodded slowly.

“Scarlett, you may think that all that’s happened to you since you came to London is finding your mother again.

But I think we both know a lot more has taken place than that.

You’ve got some serious thinking to do and some big decisions to make about your life, and for once, you can’t hide out in a movie theater to make them. ”

“But how do I choose, Dad?” I asked in desperation. “How do I know what the right thing to do is?”

“You’ll just know, Scarlett,” Dad said, taking my hand and holding it firmly in between the two of his. “Something will come along and, believe me, then you’ll know.”

Dad slid along the sofa, put his arms around me, and immediately I was returned to that safe and secure little girl once more.