Page 105 of The Summer Escape

“There’s no rush,” he said, as he went to get plates and the paper bag with pastries.

She was looking at him intently when he turned back to her. “I was expecting this morning to be stressful and awful. This is nice.”

“It is.”

“Have you got a photo of Beth?” A hint of a smile flickered at her lips. “Obviously, if she’s younger and prettier than me I don’t want to see.”

“She’s older than you,” Trystan said, unlocking his phone and gazing at the screensaver photo of Beth and Ellie. “And beautiful.” Switching to the camera roll, he handed the phone over.

“Oh, they’re cute.” While she swiped through the photos, Trystan peered over her shoulder to give a running commentary.

He was proudly regaling Jenny with his sandcastle-building skills when the phone vibrated in her hand and the photo of Beth and Ellie on the beach was replaced with a call from Beth.

“I’ll tell her I’ll call her back,” he said as he took the phone.

Jenny was murmuring about leaving when he put the phone to his ear, but she was soon drowned out. It was hard to hear Beth given the bustle in the background, but he knew instantly that something was wrong.

“Are you all right?” He moved away from Jenny. “What’s going on?”

“I’m in London.” Beth’s voice was garbled and he struggled to make out what she was saying. “I’m in such a mess. Can you help me?”

His heart went into overdrive as he told her to calm down and explain what was going on.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

After not hearing from Trystan on Friday evening, Beth had a disturbed night’s sleep and woke up even more determined to sort things out with him. She couldn’t take a weekend of wondering where she stood.

When she got bored of waiting for Ellie to wake up, she went into her bedroom to pack an overnight bag for her.

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked when she stirred.

“You’re going to play with Ferne today,” she said. “And have a sleepover with her tonight. That’s exciting, isn’t it?”

“I don’t want to play with Ferne.” She sat up in bed. “I want to play at home.”

“I’m afraid you can’t. I need to go to London, so I need you to be really good and stay at Ferne’s house. Okay?”

“Okay, Mummy.” She sounded weary enough that Beth had a pang of guilt over having woken her.

“I just need to pack a few things, then we’ll have breakfast and I’ll take you to Ferne’s house.” When she went to her own room, Ellie followed, curling up on the bed to watch her throw a change of clothes into her bag. She felt slightly giddy at the thought of seeing Trystan and called Dee while she pondered what else to pack.

“I’m going to do it,” Beth said excitedly when Dee answered the phone. “I’m packing a bag and going to see Trystan. Is it still okay for me to bring Ellie to you?”

“Um …” The hesitation wasn’t a good sign. “Youcanbring her here …”

“I’m sensing a but …”

“I’m so sorry,” Dee said. “I feel as though it’s just one thing after another at the moment. Ferne spent most of the night vomiting. She seems to have finally stopped and she’s sleeping now. I guess she’ll sleep for most of the day. So Ellie can come over, but it’ll probably be a TV day.”

Beth’s heart sank. “Poor Ferne. You must be exhausted too. Of course you can’t have Ellie. Is Hugh going to come over to help you today?”

“Apparently he has the same bug so he’s out of action too.”

“Do you need me to help with anything?”

“No. We’re fine. I just feel terrible for messing things up for you.”

“Maybe it’s a sign that I shouldn’t go.”