Page 55 of The Summer Escape

“I don’t think I tricked you. I just didn’t mention that my usual was a vegan burger.”

“You’re not vegan, are you?” She thought back to their meal together and shook her head. “You ate meat the other night.”

“I just like the vegan burger here.”

Beth reached across to help Ellie open the ketchup sachet. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me. I keep telling you I’m on holiday. I’m supposed to eat nothing but junk. It’s the law.”

“You’ll like the vegan burger. If not, I promise to find you a hamburger later.”

When the food came out, Beth had to admit it was tasty. If she hadn’t had her heart set on a regular burger, she’d have enjoyed it even more.

As soon as Ellie had wolfed down her food, she announced she was bored and wanted to go to the beach. Thankfully, Trystan was happy to go along with the demands of a five-year-old and they hastily paid the bill and set off again.

“I’d like to build two sandcastles,” Ellie told Trystan once they were on the nearby beach with towels laid out and all of them having stripped down to swimwear.

The sight of Trystan with no top on made Beth crave physical contact even more. With Ellie around it would be inappropriate, but just a brush of hands would suffice at this stage.

“Two castles isn’t a bad idea,” Trystan agreed. “It’s nice to have neighbours.” His eyes lit up. “Maybe there could be an underground tunnel connecting them.”

“That’s a good idea.” Ellie nodded her approval. “Then the people can sneak into the other castle.”

“Yes! They can move over and hide in the next castle if they come under attack.”

“Who would attack a princess castle?” Ellie asked, deadly serious.

“It’s a princess castle?”

“Yes.” She stared at him as though it was obvious. “The princess in the pink dress will live in one castle, and the princess in the yellow dress will live in the other castle.”

Trystan grinned at Beth. “I was picturing an entirely different kind of castle. They can be princess castles though,” he said, redirecting his attention to Ellie.

“I hate to put a dampener on your plans,” Beth said. “But we don’t have buckets and spades.”

Looking at Ellie, Trystan rolled his eyes dramatically. “Your mum really doesn’t know much about sandcastles, does she?”

Ellie propped her hands on her hips, giving Beth a glimpse of what she was in for in her teenage years. “No, she doesn’t know much at all.”

“If you’re going to be mean, I might just leave you and take myself off for a swim.” Beth tilted her head and switched to a more serious tone. “Would you mind?”

“No.” Trystan moved to stand beside Ellie. “Go for it. We’ve got a lot of work to do anyway.”

As she walked away, Beth listened to Ellie and Trystan discussing the particulars of the castles. It kept her smiling as she swam in the blissfully cool waves. When she re-joined them twenty minutes later, two sandcastles stood a little apart from each other. Without buckets and spades the constructions were much rougher, but still impressive.

“I collected the shells to decorate the castles,” Ellie told her as she pointed them out.

“I’m impressed.” Beth smiled at Trystan, who sat beside the castles with a sheen of sweat on his forehead and a fair amount of sand sticking to his arms and torso.

“We haven’t even built the tunnel yet. That will be the really impressive part.”

“Do you know how to build a real tunnel?” Ellie asked him. “Or will it just be pretend?”

“I know exactly how to build it. But it’s a two-person job. You’re going to have to help me.”

Ellie nodded excitedly while Beth flopped onto her towel.

“I’d offer to help,” she said. “But we all know I’m a bit clueless, so I’ll just lie over here and watch the experts.”

“That’s a good idea, Mummy,” Ellie said, making Trystan snort with laughter.