Page 19 of The Summer Escape

“Yeah, right. Your child’s just an angel.”

Beth would argue that she was definitely no angel, but they’d had the conversation too many times to bother. To be fair, Ellie had always been easy to settle in the evenings and had slept through the night since she was three months old. It was something Beth had always been very grateful for.

“I have to go and read Ferne another story,” Dee said wearily.

“Give her a kiss from me.”

They promised to talk to each other in the next few days and ended the call.

Beth moved to get herself a drink, pausing at the patio doors to look over at Mirren’s house. Trystan was still in the window, still on the phone. He’d stopped pacing and seemed to be looking directly at her. She smiled, though they were too far apart to be able to make out facial expressions.

Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t be able to catch the way her cheeks flushed before she turned and slipped inside.

CHAPTERSEVEN

On Wednesday morning, Beth immediately stripped the beds and put the bedding in the washing machine. Then she finished off the packing and got to work on cleaning the cottage. The doors and windows were all open to let fresh air in, which meant Ellie kept wandering outside. If Beth didn’t have to constantly check what her daughter was up to, the cleaning would have been finished ages ago.

“Are you sure you don’t want to watch TV for a bit?” Beth asked, backing out of the downstairs toilet in a pair of yellow rubber gloves.

“No,” Ellie replied, standing just outside the front door. “I want to play outside.”

“We can play later. I need to finish cleaning first.” She moved back into the tiny bathroom. “Can you stay in the house, please,” she shouted behind her. “Don’t wander onto the lane. It might be quiet but cars still come up here sometimes …”

“Mummy?” Ellie called.

“Yeah?”

“Mummy!”

Beth’s shoulders tensed as she stepped out of the bathroom again. “If you’d just let me get on, the cleaning would go much quicker and then we can …” She trailed off at the sight of Trystan filling the doorway. “Hi,” she said sheepishly.

“Trystan’s here,” Ellie said, the sweetness of her voice contrasting with Beth’s impatient tone.

“I can see that, thank you.” She tried to use the back of her gloved hand to remove a strand of hair from her forehead, but all she managed was to choke on the chemical smell from the gloves. “I think I just need another half hour,” she told Trystan. “Then we’ll be out of your way and you can have your house back.”

“I didn’t mean to rush you,” he said with a lazy smile. “I’ve just finished my run and thought I’d see if there was anything I could carry for you. Your suitcase, maybe?” He pointed at the black case just inside the door.

“That would be great.” Beth pulled the bright yellow marigolds off.

“You didn’t need to do a big clean,” Trystan said as he stepped inside.

“It’s the least I can do after you let us stay longer. I washed the bedding … should I put it back on the beds when its dry?”

“No, just leave it.” He picked up the case with ease. “I’ll sort it.”

“That means we can go out and play,” Ellie said.

“After I finish cleaning.”

“I’m bored,” Ellie said, looking up at Trystan. “Can you build a sandcastle with me?”

“I need to take your suitcase up to the house.”

“Shall I come with you?” she asked.

“I guess you could, if you want?”

“No,” Beth said, looking sternly at Ellie. “Stay here while I finish cleaning. Then we’ll go up to the house together.”