Page 111 of Summer At Willow Tree Farm

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‘Thanks, so do you,’ she said, letting her gaze absorb the shift of his shoulders under the suit jacket. ‘Any news about Josh?’

‘Toto said his dad took him to Gratesbury for a burger and promised to be back by six.’

Ellie pulled her phone out of her clutch purse to re-check the time. Six forty-five. Fear gripped her, galloping right through the renewed blast of frustration.

‘They’re forty-five minutes late.’

Could they have been in an accident? What if this wasn’t Dan’s usual selfishness, what if it was something much worse than that?

‘Ellie, breathe.’ Art touched her arm. ‘We’ll find them.’

‘It’s probably nothing.’ She tried to reason with herself. ‘Dan’s always chronically late for everything. Although I don’t understand why Josh went with him. I know he wanted to hang out with Toto today.’

‘Toto said he didn’t want to go, but Dan insisted.’

‘But why?’ This was just getting worse and worse.

‘Ellie, is everything OK?’ Dee arrived, flanked by Toto.

‘Josh is missing with Dan,’ Art said, still holding her arm.

‘Everyone’s seated, guys, is something going on?’ Tess joined their huddle with Annie.

Ellie forced herself to breathe and to think. Panicking wasn’t going to help.

Jacob and Rob and Mike arrived. ‘Is Josh not back yet?’ Jacob asked, looking as if he were about to pass out.

‘No, do you think you could get in touch with Maddy’s mum?’ Ellie said, determined to calm the groom down first. ‘Tell her to hold off arriving for a few minutes.’ She needed to focus on fixing this, rather than turning it into a total catastrophe. Josh was OK. Dan was just an inconsiderate idiot who couldn’t be bothered to answer his damn phone.

‘Sure,’ Jacob said, digging his phone out of his jacket pocket to text his fiancée’s mum before Maddy arrived in her bridal gown with the place in an uproar.

‘Tess, Annie, could you two tell everyone we may be slightly delayed, the bride’s prerogative and all that.’

‘Got it,’ Tess said, as she and Annie headed off.

‘Toto, how about you go into the house and find Josh’s suit, he can change in the shop when he gets here.’ Because he would get here soon. Very soon.

But, as Toto sped off, Art swore. ‘There they are.’

The huge surge of relief at the sight of Dan and Josh appearing was quickly quashed, when Art stalked off to greet them.

She and everyone else raced after him.

Josh ran towards her.

‘Mom, Mom, I’m sorry I’m late.’ He sounded distraught, his lip quivering and his eyes wide with anxiety, reminding her of the boy she had brought with her to Wiltshire three months ago. ‘I told Dad we had to get back, but he didn’t listen. I didn’t even want to get a burger. I wanted to stay with Toto.’ She couldn’t imagine how much courage it must have taken for Josh to finally stand up to his father. Pride for her son blossomed as Dan strolled up, behind him.

The languid stride suggested he didn’t have a care in the world, as if he hadn’t just deliberately given his son and everyone else a panic attack.

‘Stop whining, Joshie,’ he said, the feckless grin antagonising her more. ‘We got here in time, just like I told you, the wedding hasn’t even started yet.’

‘Where have you been?’ she demanded, her voice rising in pitch with her anger. ‘Why did you take him off like that?’

‘Because I wanted to have a burger with my son.’ His gaze flicked to Art’s and suddenly she knew. Dan’s desire to take Josh out for lunch had nothing to do with his son and everything to do with his pissing contest with Art. He’d been staking a claim. As if Josh’s affection were a possession to be bartered, to prove that Dan was somehow the better man – and, in so doing, he’d proved exactly the opposite. ‘Joshie’s whining about nothing, as usual,’ he said.

Anger swept through Ellie in a mighty wave, gathering in its wake all those times Dan had treated her and their son with the same careless contempt, but before she could open her mouth to tear into him, Art’s big body blocked her view.