Echoes of Love (18 page)

‘You can ignore my calls all you like but I shan’t give up until you speak to me.’

Anna’s finger hovered on the
Delete
button.

‘I never thought I would say this to you,’ her godmother’s disembodied voice continued, ‘but you are being completely selfish and disloyal to your father – and to
your mother’s memory.’

Her words felt like a kick in the stomach to Anna whose head was already pounding from the combination of too much Pimm’s, a broken night’s sleep and an hour of rushing around in the
sun.

‘Your father wept this morning, Anna – yes, he actually wept. Because of what you’ve done. I fear for his health; he’s been on the edge for weeks, and now this, on top of
everything that wretched woman set in motion . . . Words fail me.’ They clearly didn’t, because she continued without pause. ‘Just think, Anna, what your mummy would be saying
right now.’

The words were like a knife cutting through Anna’s already bruised ego.

‘Ring me. Soon. Unless of course you would prefer me to come over there and drag you home and, believe me, I’m tempted!’

Anna snapped the phone shut and shuffled miserably to the head of the queue.

‘Six cones with a flake, please,’ she muttered, although in truth she doubted she could swallow anything.

She was balancing the cones and edging her way down the wooden steps back to the beach when her phone beeped again.

‘Oh go to . . .!’ Why should she spoil the day by phoning Marina? But then, if her dad really was on the edge . . . No, that was just Marina exaggerating. But Marina didn’t
exaggerate. And her mum had often talked about her father’s blustering being a cover for his insecurity.

And what if Marina did turn up at the cottage, which of course, she wouldn’t – it was just a threat . . . But what if . . .?

‘Anna!’ Phoebe grabbed two cones from her hands. ‘They’re dripping everywhere. And hey, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

‘It’s – oh, nothing.’

‘Good, because you’re going to have to sort Jamie out,’ Phoebe muttered. ‘I’m about to tell him we’re through. And after that I’m catching the
five-thirty ferry back. I’m going home.’

Anna, who had left her mobile switched off since Marina’s angry phone call, switched it back on and sent a text to Phoebe.

‘Just in case he chased after her,’ she told the others.

All she got back was an abrupt,
He’s big enough to sort himself out
which she thought was a little harsh under the circumstances.

‘He can’t do much without any money,’ Sula reasoned. ‘I guess he just needed some time out. I mean, if Zac did that to me, I’d want to go away, curl up somewhere
and just die.’

‘But then, I never would,’ Zac replied softly, kissing the back of her neck. He turned to Anna. ‘You’re her friend, has she told you anything? All I got was that she
couldn’t handle the holiday and she’d explain when I got home.’

‘And her timing,’ Felix muttered. ‘How could she dump him in the middle of a holiday?’

Just then, Anna’s phone beeped.

One new message.

‘Is it him?’ Three voices asked in unison.

It wasn’t from Jamie. It was from Mallory.

Dad’s in hospital. Please ring. Urgent. M

‘Oh my God!’ Anna sank into the nearest chair and dialled Mallory’s phone.

‘What’s wrong?’ Felix asked.

‘It’s my dad, he’s . . . Mallory? Hi, it’s me. What’s happened?’

She listened, alarmed and guilty in equal measure, as Mallory told her how, earlier that evening, her father had been ranting about the injustices of his life, and the behaviour of Anna in
particular, had stormed out into the garden for a cigar, and been found in a heap in the middle of the lawn.

‘They think it’s his heart,’ Mallory sobbed. ‘Gaby’s in France and I can’t reach her. You have to come home. It’s all your fault this has
happened.’

‘It’s too late to do anything tonight,’ Felix said, when Anna had rung off. ‘The last ferry will have left ages ago.’

He gave her a hug and Anna rested her head on his chest.

‘Mallory thinks it’s all my fault,’ she sighed.

‘Mallory can think what she likes,’ Felix replied. ‘Whatever is wrong with your dad, it’s not down to you. Just get that into your head right now.’

‘I’ll have to go back,’ she ventured. ‘First thing in the morning.’

‘Of course you do, and I’ll take you. This holiday,’ he said dryly, ‘seems to have been a disaster from the start. Let’s hope Zac and Sula manage to come through it
unscathed.’

The closer they got to home, the more anxious Anna became. Felix had been great, sorting out the ferry, doing all the driving and insisting on stopping for lunch because he said hospital
visiting couldn’t be done on an empty stomach. Jamie had insisted on getting the fast train direct to London despite not having a clue where Phoebe would be hanging out, and after trying to
dissuade him Felix had given in and dropped him off at Southampton station. For the remainder of the journey he had kept up a stream of chat.

‘I know it’s a lot to ask,’ Anna ventured, as Felix pulled up in the hospital car park, switched off the ignition and opened the car door, ‘but will you come in with me?
I’m not very good in hospitals and . . .’

‘Of course I’ll come,’ he replied, squeezing her hand.

Walter was in a side room and Anna could hear his voice from way down the corridor.

‘Good sign,’ Felix teased. ‘He hasn’t lost the power of speech.’

Gingerly, she pushed open the door. A tall, grey-haired man in a dark suit, whom she assumed was the consultant, was standing at the foot of the bed. Walter, looking strangely vulnerable in a
hospital gown, was propped up on pillows.

‘. . . not a heart attack at all,’ the consultant was saying. ‘You’d clearly been hitting the bottle rather too much . . .’

‘Are you suggesting . . .?’

‘. . . and that,’ the consultant continued calmly, ‘plus what was undoubtedly an angina attack caused you to pass out. And you also have very high blood pressure which . .
.’

At that moment, Walter turned and caught sight of Anna and Felix, who were hovering in the doorway.

‘High blood pressure, you say? Well, it’ll be a damn sight higher if you don’t get that boy out of my room right now!’

‘Dad, that’s not fair – if it wasn’t for Felix, I wouldn’t have got here half as quickly . . .’

‘If it wasn’t for your sordid little romance with Felix, I wouldn’t have encountered that woman and I wouldn’t be in here,’ her father stormed. He turned to the
doctor. ‘Stress, you said – that’s what I’m suffering from?’

‘It could certainly be a contributing factor, but the alcohol, your smoking . . .’

‘Satisfied?’ He glared at Anna.

‘I’ll leave you to your visitors,’ the doctor said. ‘And I’ll sign your release papers. But you need to see your GP and get this angina sorted and make some fairly
major lifestyle changes.’

Three hours later, Walter was home, holding court while Araminta, who had sped up the motorway the moment she heard the news, sat on the arm of the sofa, stroking his balding head as if he were
a child of two.

‘You must drink less,’ Marina said sternly. ‘Party less and accept that you’re not getting any younger.’

‘Well, if my own daughter wasn’t driving me to drink, it might be easier,’ he sighed, slipping into the role of the much misjudged, ill-treated parent. ‘I want you to
keep away from that boy, Anna – at least till all this business with his mother is sorted. The lawyers are meeting next month and I can’t afford to . . .’

His voice faltered and his eyes filled with tears.

‘If it all goes horribly wrong, I’ll have let your mum down and I can’t bear that.’

That was what did it. In that moment, Anna knew she had to help her father through this, whatever it took. And he did say ‘till this business is sorted’.

She knew what she had to do. And how she could, despite everything, make it bearable.

Felix had driven to their place in the woods as soon as Anna, confident that her father’s trip with Marina to the GP would take at least an hour, phoned him the following morning. He had
picked her up, whirled her round and round and kissed her full on the lips.

‘Now your Dad’s home, how about we try to redeem our week? I don’t mean go back to the cottage, but I thought we could . . .’

‘We can’t do anything,’ Anna said, her voice shaking slightly. ‘For the time being, we’ve got to see less of each other.’

For a moment, the only sound was the chirping of the birds and the rustling of leaves in the beech trees.

‘Say that again.’ Felix’s voice was tight with emotion.

‘Oh, I’m not dumping you,’ Anna assured him hastily, taking his hand. ‘Just saying that when we meet, we’ve got to do it in secret. I’ll tell my dad that I am
doing things his way – not seeing you till all this mess with your mum is sorted – and then we’ll arrange how we can get together when he’s out of the way . . .’

‘So hang on, let me get this straight.’ Felix snatched his hand away. ‘You want us to have a secret relationship? Behind closed doors?’

‘Well, yes – I mean I can say I’ve got band rehearsals and parties with friends and . . .’

‘Anna, Anna.’ Felix cupped her face in his hands. ‘You just don’t get it, do you?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I love you – and I want the whole world to know just how much you mean to me. This idea of hiding away – it’s like we’re ashamed of what we feel for one another.
No way am I going to hide in a corner.’

‘But if we just keep Dad calm —’

‘It’s not up to you to keep him calm, Anna. If you do this, what will happen next? Two years down the line, you’ll make another decision he doesn’t like and then
what?’

Anna took his hand. ‘I promise, it’s just for a few weeks. Then when this court case business is all sorted . . .’

‘And what if the case goes against him? What then?’

For a moment Anna was lost for words.

‘I love you. You know that. But I can’t and won’t lie – I can’t be two-faced. And I won’t dance to someone else’s tune.’ He touched her cheek.
‘You told me that I was the most important person in your life.’

‘You are, but . . .’

‘It doesn’t look that way to me. I can’t do this, Anna. It’s best if we face facts. It’s over between us.’

And with that he turned and strode up the path. She ran after him, pleading, crying, telling him he’d got it all wrong, believing that any minute, he would turn back, take her in his arms
and tell her that, if keeping things quiet for a bit would make her happy, then he’d do it.

But that didn’t happen.

As he reached his car, she grabbed his arm. He paused, and turned to face her, and she saw that his eyes were glistening with unshed tears. ‘I loved you so much, Anna,’ he whispered.
‘And I thought you felt the same.’

Choking back the tears, she tried to reply but before she could utter a word he had got into his car and driven away.

CHAPTER 12

S
HE HAD SENT EMAILS.
S
HE HAD BOMBARDED HIM WITH
text messages. She had even written long letters. She had prayed harder than she
had ever prayed in her life.