Page 102 of The Summer Escape

“Something is definitely wrong,” she said, while Dee made them tea.

“I don’t understand why you don’t just ask him straight out what’s going on.”

“I know what’s going on … Ellie freaked him out with her questions and he realised that a holiday romance was one thing and real life is something entirely different. And the reality is not something he wants.”

“You don’t know that though. That’s just the story you’ve created in your head. You need to ask him.”

Beth dropped her head to her hands. “It was a little difficult to ask him anything since the couple of times I’ve spoken to him this week, he’s conveniently had a lot of work to do and hasn’t been able to chat for long.”

“So just call him and ask him directly what’s going on.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what’s going on. The fact that he’s been avoiding speaking to me all week is a pretty big clue that he doesn’t want to be with me.” She pouted as a wave of sadness washed over her. “I miss him.” What with him and her mum, she felt as though she spent all her time missing people. She was sick of it.

“Tell him that.” Dee joined Beth at the table. “Why not go for a spontaneous weekend in London? You can leave Ellie with me if you want …”

“Thanks, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I need him to decide what he wants without any pressure from me. I’m the one with all the baggage – if he can’t deal with that, it’s better for all of us if he figures that out now.”

“From what I’ve heard about him, it doesn’t sound as though a few questions from Ellie would put him off.”

“He was definitely keen until he spent the day with her. That’s when everything got weird.”

“Men are so annoying. Why can’t they just communicate properly?”

Beth tapped the side of her mug, suddenly tempted to drive to London and demand to know where she stood. Her mood dropped further when she remembered another reason she couldn’t do that. “I can’t go this weekend anyway,” she said. “He’s meeting up with his ex.”

“He told you that?”

“Yeah. When I spoke to him yesterday, I asked him if he had weekend plans. To be honest I was hoping he might suggest coming to visit again. He said his car’s being serviced, which I kind of took to mean that he might have come otherwise … but then he casually mentioned that his ex would come over at some point to pick up some stuff.”

“They were together a long time, right? I don’t think you need to read too much into that. And the fact that he told you is a good thing. He’s not hiding it.”

Beth almost wished hehadhidden it. She wasn’t sure she’d managed to hide her jealousy on the phone. Plus, she was probably going to spend the entire weekend thinking about him with his ex.

“Do you really think I should go over there?” She ran her hands down her face. “I think we need to speak in person and I don’t think I can wait another week to do that.”

“Go then.”

“I don’t know … he’s been so distant on the phone this week. I suspect he’d tell me not to come, then I’ll feel even worse than I do now.”

“Don’t ask him then,” Dee suggested. “You have his address, right? Turn up and surprise him. It’ll be super romantic.”

Beth leaned back in her chair, glancing at the ceiling. “That’s surprisingly tempting.”

“Wow. I expected you to laugh at the idea. I like it when you’re spontaneous.”

“I can’t go right now though.” She glanced at the kitchen clock. “I’d be driving in the dark and I’ll probably end up lost in London. I’m going to ponder the idea, but I might go first thing in the morning. Are you sure you’d be okay to have Ellie?”

“I strongly suspect you’re going to change your mind between now and tomorrow morning, but I’m very happy to have her.”

* * *

Not bothering with the gym on Saturday morning, Trystan made a quick trip to the local bakery to pick up pastries in preparation for Jenny coming over. Her message earlier in the week insisting she needed to speak to him had left him intrigued. Usually, she wasn’t the type to be unnecessarily mysterious, but it certainly didn’t sound as though she wanted a general catch-up.

The doorbell sounded at eleven o’clock on the dot and he was on his way to answer it when the lock clicked. Jenny stepped inside, an intensity to her gaze as she stared at the key in her hand.