Escape for the Summer (21 page)

Andi smiled when she thought about Jonty. She’d bumped into him a couple of times over the past few days and his cheerful grin and easy conversation made him somebody very comfortable to be around. He tended to spend most of his time working on his boat, “channelling my inner 007”
as he laughingly described it, or doing chores around the property. When he was indoors he was either chatting with his sister in the kitchen or entertaining his nephews. Andi was struck by how relaxed he was with them yet how much the boys respected him. Uncle Jonty was certainly a big hit and something of a hero to the children. Yesterday he’d taken his nephews wakeboarding on Simon’s RIB and the excitement had been contagious. Even though she knew she’d probably look revolting in tight rubber Andi had found herself wishing she could join in.

“I’m useless,” Simon had said ruefully, “but Jonty’s an amazing waterskier. You’ll have to get him to take you out sometime.”

Andi had laughed. “I’d be rubbish. I think I’ll stick to figures!”

Simon had pulled a face. “That’s what I said, but nobody listens to me. Just accept it; Jonty will have you in a wetsuit before you know it.”

Leaving her to it, he’d gone to join his family on the water. Andi had sat down to her work, but the office overlooked the estuary and she’d been distracted several times by the sight of the RIB hurtling along with small wetsuited figures trailing behind the foaming wake. It had looked like great fun. She’d felt pleased that Ocean View was a family home again, complete with laughter and sand and salty swimming costumes. The chatter and merriment of Simon’s family filled the echoing space left by her parents...

Andi had worked on the Pasties Drekly
accounts until the late afternoon. A couple of times she’d seen the RIB blast by again, the final time towing a wetsuited man who leapt through the air with the natural grace and ease of a salmon returning upstream. That had to be Jonty then, equally at home on the wakeboard as he was behind the wheel of the RIB. She’d watched for a moment, admiring his agility, before getting back to her figures. On their return the family had brought fish and chips home for supper. Insisting she left the office and joined them, Jonty had shared his portion with her. He’d peeled his wetsuit down to his waist, revealing a muscular stomach and strong shoulders that were tanned and broad from hours on the water. Droplets of water had glimmered on his eyelashes, all starry from the water, and a wide grin had split his face as he’d recounted the day’s adventures. Mel had shooed all the soggy men outside to stop them dripping on the floor, so Andi had sat with Jonty and the boys by the pool, where they’d munched hot salty chips and dangled their legs in the cool water. They’d chatted easily about everything under the sun and she’d returned to the caravan feeling contented and full with food – and with another odd feeling that she couldn’t quite identify.

It was only much later on that she’d finally realised that this odd sensation was happiness.

It was great to have a friend with no agenda, she decided this morning as she let herself into Ocean View. Jonty hadn’t told her much about himself and Andi respected his desire to keep personal things private. After all, nobody understood better than her how some things were better not talked about. The ugly business with Tom was still an open wound and one she had no desire to prod. Even though he’d never mentioned it again, Andi had gleaned from cryptic comments made by Mel and Simon that Jonty was getting over a break-up, and she totally appreciated that he’d rather not discuss it. He certainly hadn’t broached it with her, but then again she’d kept her past pretty much under wraps too.

“Morning!” called Mel over her shoulder when Andi entered the kitchen. Standing at the Aga, Mel was busy frying bacon while her children and the family dog watched and drooled. “I’m just making breakfast. Would you like some?”

Andi shook her head. Checking her watch she saw that it was already half past eight. “I’m good, thanks. I’ll go through to the office and make a start.”

Turning around, Mel pinned her with a stare. “You will not! Simon doesn’t pay you until nine. I’m not having my slave-driver husband grind you into exhaustion. The least I can do is fix you a coffee.”

Simon was the antithesis of a slave driver and Andi laughed. “One coffee then.”

“And then to work,” said Simon with a mock-stern face, miming cracking a whip. He leant to kiss the top of his wife’s head. “I’m just going up to the boatyard with Jonty. I’ll see you at the pontoon, sweetheart.”

His wife brandished her spatula at him. “You’d better! No getting distracted by that ridiculous wreck of a boat. Why Jonty bothers with it when—”

She stopped mid-flow because Simon was kissing her.

“Eww!” and “Gross!” squealed the boys, but Andi smiled. Mel and Simon clearly adored one another even after years of marriage. It kind of gave you hope. When was the last time that Tom had kissed her (and by “kissed” she meant properly kissed, not just a peck on the cheek)? Far too long ago, was the answer. Andi sighed. Maybe that part of her life was over? From now on she’d just concentrate on paying off her debts and getting everything sorted. And if the closest she came to sex was walking past an advert for
Play Gel then that was probably for the best.

While Simon promised faithfully he would be on time and Mel dished up huge breakfasts for her boys, Andi sat down at the large scrubbed-pine table and let the warmth of their family surround her. It felt a bit like sinking into a hot bath. The Rothwells were noisy and squabbled and created a trail of havoc wherever they went, but the sense of fun and love that accompanied them was palpable. Had her family ever been like this? As though peeling back layers that had been superimposed over an original print, Andi saw her own mother cooking at that very Aga while she and Angel sat at the table with their father. This was where any similarities ended. Unlike Simon, Alex Evans had spent very little time with his family, preferring to read in the drawing room or drive back to London for meetings. She certainly couldn’t recall him ever kissing her mother, but she could recall plenty of silences and a sensation of resentment so strong she could almost see it. And unlike the boys, who clearly adored their father, Andi and Angel had been in total awe of Alex. His moods were uncertain, and his presence was only granted now and again; the girls had always been trying to either please or placate him.

Yep. A psychologist would have a field day with her and Angel all right.

“Boys, it’s lovely outside. Take your food out onto the terrace. Loopy! Down! You go out too.” Mel chased her brood outside and then wiped her hands on her Cath Kidston apron. “My God, they’re enough to put you off kids for life! Now, let’s have that coffee now we’ve got some peace and quiet.”

A state-of-the-art Gaggia had pride of place in the kitchen but Mel bypassed it, cheerfully lobbing Nescafé granules into mugs and sloshing water over them from a kettle.

“I’m probably a complete philistine but I much prefer the bog-standard stuff,” she apologised. “Jonty’s machine is too clever for me.”

“That’s Jonty’s machine?” Andi was surprised it wasn’t in the pool house.

“He gave it to us,” Mel explained quickly. “It’s great and all that, but to be honest I can’t figure it out for the life of me.” She put two steaming mugs down and smiled at Andi. “I hope this is OK?”

“This is great, thanks.”

“Good.” Mel beamed at her. “So, tell me Andi, what brings you to Rock?”

Since they’d first been introduced, Andi had been struck by just how intrigued Mel was by her. She supposed it was only natural; she was a total stranger in their house after all, and in the other woman’s shoes Andi guessed she would have felt exactly the same. So far Jonty had been around to head off what he’d laughingly referred to as the Sibling Inquisition,
but today he was meeting Simon at the boatyard so she was on her own.

“Don’t let my sister grill you,” he’d warned last night over their shared chips. “She’s right a nosy parker when she wants to be and she’s desperate to know more about you.”

“Me? Why?” Andi had asked through a mouthful of chip.

“Because she’s my big sister and thinks anything I do is her business! Besides, you’re the first friend I’ve brought up to the house, which has really got her on red alert. She wants to check you out!”

The word
friend
had given her a warm, tingly feeling. The idea of being checked out, however, hadn’t.

“And do you generally listen to what she says?” Andi had teased. When it came to her own sister, she generally took anything Angel said with a giant handful of salt.

Jonty had raised a hand to touch his short hair. “I cut my hair off a while back for a photo shoot. It was this silly work thing. Mel told me not to; she said I looked like the FA Cup with short hair. She tried to stick my ears down with chewing gum when we were kids. When I looked in the mirror I thought she was probably right. I almost asked her the fetch the Wrigley’s!”

Andi thought his hair, now growing out in thick waves, suited him. She liked the way it exposed the shells of his ears and the tender skin at the nape of his neck.

“You could always get a beanie hat,” she’d deadpanned.

Jonty had laughed. “I’ll bear it in mind! But to answer your question, then yes. Generally I trust my sister. The times I have ignored her things haven’t always gone so well.”

Now, as she drank coffee with Mel, Andi recalled this conversation and smiled to herself.

“I’m here with my sister and a friend,” she told Mel. “I’m between jobs at the moment so it seemed a good time to take a break. Gemma found a cheap caravan just outside the town, so we’ve come down for the summer.”

“That sounds like lots of fun. Jonty’s doing the same in a way by hanging out with us. Rock always chills him out.”

“He seems a pretty chilled kind of guy to me anyway,” Andi observed.

Mel nodded. “He is generally but he’s had some heavy work stuff to deal with and he needs a break. It’s not been easy.”

Andi waited for her to elaborate but Mel seemed reluctant to say any more. “Anyway, there’s enough here to keep him busy. And at least it means he’s away from Jax.”

“Jax? That’s his ex?”

Andi couldn’t help herself. This was a name she’d already heard Simon mention the first time she’d met him. Jonty had clammed up like a scallop, his usually sunny countenance all shuttered and drawn, and hadn’t wanted to expand on the topic. Jax, whoever she was, was definitely not up for discussion.

“Afraid so,” said Mel. “Total nightmare bitch from hell. She was his business partner too – which was bad enough, because she abandoned Jonty when his company was going down the tubes and totally left him to carry the can. He’s such a gentleman that he sold his house to pay back what he owed her, even though it crucified him. Of course, she took the lot and left him totally in the shit. It was a double betrayal. As you can imagine, we’re not her biggest fans in this house.”

This was a story that Andi could identify with only too well. Her heart went out to Jonty. No wonder he wanted to hide out in Rock with his family.

“Poor Jonty,” she said.

Mel stared thoughtfully at Andi. “He hasn’t had the best time of it, that’s for sure. I’ve no idea what he ever saw in the woman, to be honest. Big false boobs, tight clothes and a fast car I suppose. God, men can be thick.”

Although she didn’t know him very well, this didn’t sound much like Jonty to Andi.

“I’m sure there was more to it than that,” she said gently.

Mel sighed. “Yes, yes, of course. Jax is a very successful businesswoman so I guess he admired her. He was certainly wrapped up in her for long enough. I just hope that she leaves him alone now that...” She paused and shook her head. “Well, now that he’s happier. I’d hate to see him hurt again.”

Andi understood. She’d have done anything to save Angel from being hurt every time Alex had failed to pick them up from school or forgot a birthday.

“He seems very happy now,” she observed.

Mel shot her a familiar turquoise-eyed grin. “Yes, he does and I can’t think why! Anyway, ignore me, Andi; I’m paranoid. It’s just that I trust that Jax about as far as I could kick a concrete block.”

Their conversation ended abruptly at this point because the boys had returned to the kitchen and were clamouring for more food. Taking her cup to the sink, Andi thanked Mel and made her way to Simon’s office. That Jonty had been hiding a broken heart made her own go out to him even more. No wonder they seemed to have such a connection. They were both in the same boat, even if his was more James Bond style than hers!

When a text buzzed through to her phone, with the message
Coffee at boat yard L8r? J
, Andi found herself texting back a yes before she’d even thought about it. Then she put her phone away, called up today’s files and set about her work. As she wrestled with the figures she was still thinking about how wonderful it was to have a friend who totally got her. Even when the numbers became so tricky that she had to go right back to the very beginning, Andi was still smiling at the thought of meeting him later for a coffee.

Jonty, it seemed, was starting to have a very good effect on her.

Chapter 21

It was early evening at Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant, that westerly Mecca for those who love fine food and exquisite service – an elegant grey-stone and red-brick building with large windows overlooking the estuary, which forms a perfect frame for exhibiting the exclusive clientele.

A select group of diners were in attendance this evening. As they were seated at their window table, which was a work of art in fine white linen, gleaming silver cutlery and sparkling crystal glasses, Laurence discreetly pointed out to Angel the good and great who had flocked to the restaurant. Some of them – like Richard and Judy, for example – were instantly recognisable and she had to dredge up every ounce of self-control she possessed not to look impressed. Although inside Angel was shrieking with excitement and gagging to ask the famous duo for their autographs (or did they have one and share it?), her perfectly made-up face didn’t reveal so much as a flicker of interest.