Page 24 of The Summer Escape

“Bye, sweetheart.” She took a few steps before turning back to Mirren. “Just call if there’s a problem.”

“I will,” Mirren promised.

At the garden gate, Beth turned back once again. “I hope she won’t be any trouble.”

“Mum had five boys,” Trystan said lightly. “I don’t think looking after Ellie for an evening will be much of a challenge.”

“I suppose that’s true. I just feel guilty leaving her.”

“She’ll be fine.” He held the gate for her and she wandered through, noticing how his shirt highlighted his tan.

“Where is it that we’re going?”

“The restaurant at the Star Castle Hotel. It’s just in Hugh Town. About a twenty-minute walk … but if you’d rather we drive …”

“No, I’d like to walk.” She glanced down at her dress. She’d brought her denim jacket in case it turned cool later but carried it for now, along with her handbag. “Is it a fancy place?”

“Not really. About as fancy as it gets on Scilly, but that’s still fairly casual.”

“I feel a little under-dressed.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “You look beautiful.”

As her heart slipped into an erratic rhythm, Beth mumbled a quiet thank you, before deftly moving the conversation on by asking him about his day. Apparently he’d spent most of it working and had been glad of the excuse to get away from the laptop when Mirren invited him for dinner.

“What is it that you do?” she asked.

“I’m a relocation specialist.” He tilted his head back, watching a gull that glided on the gentle breeze. “I was an estate agent before that but got headhunted by a relocation agency. The money was better, so I thought I’d give it a go.”

“And you enjoy it?”

“Yes. It’s interesting to be more involved in helping people move. Not only focusing on the house, but on every aspect of the move.” He cast her a half smile that made her stomach flutter. “Of course, how much I enjoy it usually depends on the clients. Some are easier than others.”

“I can imagine.” Beth gazed out to the boats bobbing in the bay and felt a sense of calm for the first time that day.

“How about you?” Trystan asked. “What do you do when you’re not lying around on beaches all summer?”

His teasing brought a smile to her face, which faded when she realised he was expecting an answer to the question and she wasn’t sure what to say. Currently, she was between jobs, but talking about it was likely to ruin her mood again.

“I’m a school photographer,” she said with as much confidence as she could muster. Shewould beanyway. Wedding photography wasn’t a good fit for a single mother with no support network, so she was leaving that behind and trying not to feel too sad about it. She was lucky really; her mum had left her the house that the three of them had been living in, so she only had to earn enough to cover food and bills and other expenses.

“A school photographer?” Trystan asked, a slight lilt to his voice as though he could tell she was lying. Which she wasn’t – it was the job she was going to move into.

“It’s not glamorous,” she said. “But it fits perfectly around Ellie’s school day and pays the bills.”

“How long have you been doing that for?” he asked.

She pondered how to answer for a couple of steps. “I’ve always been a photographer. The school photography is a more recent thing.”

They moved to the edge of the lane as a car approached, and Beth took the opportunity to change the subject, asking Trystan about his childhood on St Mary’s.

The walk into Hugh Town went much quicker without a five-year-old setting the pace, and they reached the harbour before she knew it. From there, they ambled up the cobbled incline to the imposing castle with the Union Jack flag flapping in the breeze.

“I’m so unfit,” she declared, sucking in a deep breath at the top of the hill. “I’m used to walking at the speed of a five-year-old and stopping every thirty seconds to look at ladybirds and butterflies.”

“Sorry. I can pretend to be out of breath if it’ll make you feel better.”

“It wouldn’t be very believable. I’ve seen you running and swimming every morning.”